SCOTLAND

New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many personnel the Department has recruited under the new deal in each of the past five years.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office has employed seven staff under the new deal in the past five years. Details are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of new deal appointments 
		
		
			 2000–01 2 
			 2001–02 3 
			 2002–03 — 
			 2003–04 1 
			 2004–05 1

WALES

Meirionnydd Nant Conwy

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last visited the constituency of Meirionnydd Nant Conwy; and what the purpose was of that visit.

Peter Hain: My last official engagement in Meirionnydd Nant Conwy was in August 1997 as a Welsh Office Minister when I had the great pleasure of attending that year's National Eisteddfod.
	More recent visits to North Wales have taken me through the great beauty of the hon. Members constituency and if he has any specific suggestions for a ministerial visit I would be only to pleased to consider these.
	My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State stayed in Dolgellau in the hon. Gentleman's constituency during an official visit in January 2003.

New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many personnel the Department has recruited under the new deal in each of the past five years.

Don Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Ruth Kelly
	The size of the Wales Office and nature of its business means that it does not recruit directly but takes its staff mostly from the National Assembly for Wales and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Grey Visitor Passes

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission 
	(1)  how many grey visitor passes have been issued to visitors to the parliamentary estate since they were introduced;
	(2)  how many grey visitor passes issued to visitors to the parliamentary estate have been lost since they were introduced; and what efforts have been made to recover them;
	(3)  what measures are in place to ensure that grey visitor passes issued to visitors to the parliamentary estate are successfully retrieved from visitors when they leave the parliamentary estate.

Archy Kirkwood: It is not the practice of the House of Commons Commission to publish details of the operation of security arrangements on the parliamentary estate.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agrimonetary Compensation (Buckingham)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in the Buckingham constituency have received agrimonetary compensation since 2002; and what the total amount is that has been paid out.

Alun Michael: Agrimonetary compensation payments to farmers in Buckinghamshire in respect of numbers and amount since 2002.
	
		
			 EAGGF year Number Amount (£) 
		
		
			 2002 778 493,832.00 
			 2003 321 18,465.73 
		
	
	European agriculture guarantee and guidance fund years run from 16 October to 15 October.
	Within the regional classification used by the EC (Nomenclature des unites territoriales statistiques (NUTS)) there is no code for Buckingham only for Buckinghamshire.
	The figures are therefore for Buckinghamshire.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Illegal Trading

Dave Watts: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance she gives to the Crown Prosecution Service on prosecutions for illegal trading.

Harriet Harman: The term illegal trading covers a range of possible criminal offences which may be prosecuted by a number of public prosecuting authorities, including the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and local authorities. The Crown Prosecution Service will apply the guidance contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors when deciding whether or not to prosecute in individual cases.

CPS Prosecutions (Blackpool)

Michael Jack: To ask the Solicitor-General what studies she has undertaken of recent trends in Crown Prosecution Service prosecutions in criminal cases in Blackpool.

Harriet Harman: Measured by unsuccessful outcomes, the CPS Unit responsible for prosecutions in the Fylde/Blackpool area of Lancashire has been performing well in comparison to other parts of the county, and in comparison to England and Wales more generally.

Domestic Violence Courts

Julie Morgan: To ask the Solicitor-General what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing the number of specialist domestic violence courts.

Harriet Harman: Independent evaluation of five of the existing specialist domestic violence courts has been extremely positive. The Government intends to take forward the recommendation to increase the number of such courts in England and Wales.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Analogue Switch-off

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage in terms of area of (a) the UK and (b) Scotland will have digital television coverage by 31 December (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006.

Estelle Morris: Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) coverage figures are calculated by households covered rather than geographical area. At present 82 per cent. of households in Scotland are covered by DTT compared to 73 per cent. for the UK as a whole and this percentage cannot be increased before Switchover.
	Though it is not possible to give an accurate prediction of future DTT coverage in Scotland and the UK, public service broadcasters are required to match substantially the same level of analogue coverage (98.5 per cent.), with digital. No specific dates for Switchover have been set, but the Government and Ofcom believe that digital switchover could start to happen as early as 2007 and be completed by 2012.

Drug Abuse (Football)

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Football Association regarding sanctions for footballers testing positive for drugs.

Richard Caborn: There have been no formal discussions between DCMS Ministers and the Football Association in the last 12 months about sanctions for footballers testing positive for prohibited substances.

Listed Buildings

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what account is taken of the impact that listing particular buildings will have on local regeneration when the decision is made about whether they should be listed;
	(2)  what action she is taking to ensure that decisions about listing buildings take into account the impact their listing will have on local regeneration; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The listing criteria, as set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (PPG 15), only allow the Secretary of State to consider the special architectural or historic interest of the buildings.
	Local regeneration cannot be taken into consideration.
	Comments received in response to our consultation document, Protecting our Historic Environment: Making the System Work Better, supported the principle that the Secretary of State should not be able to take account of wider considerations.

Listed Buildings

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many buildings have been listed in each of the last 10 years.

Richard Caborn: We are able only to provide reliable figures for the last five years. These are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2000 900 
			 2001 742 
			 2002 649 
			 2003 721 
			 2004 (1)465 
		
	
	(1) To October 2004.

Listed Buildings

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications for listing buildings have been turned down in each of the last 10 years.

Richard Caborn: We are able only to provide reliable figures for the last five years. These are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2000 1,317 
			 2001 1,375 
			 2002 1,183 
			 2003 1,255 
			 2004 1,164

Olympic Sports Facilities

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) 50-metre Olympic swimming pools, (b) Olympic standard velodromes and (c) Olympic standard running tracks there are in the UK; and where they are located.

Richard Caborn: There are 24 50-metre swimming pools in the UK. Of these, four have the necessary swimming and spectator facilities to host Olympic and other major international competitions. They are located in London (Crystal Palace), Manchester, Sheffield, and Glasgow.
	The remaining 20 50-metre pools are located at: Aldershot, Bath, Birmingham, Coventry, Ealing, High Wycombe, Hillingdon, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, Millfield School, Norwich, Portsmouth, Stockport, Tyne and Wear, Wigan, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Stirling, and Swansea.
	There are two Olympic standard velodromes in the UK—one each in Newport and Manchester.
	There are six running tracks in the UK with sufficient athletics and spectator facilities to host Olympic and other international competitions. These are located in: Gateshead, Sheffield, London (Crystal Palace), Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. The facility in Glasgow is currently being refurbished.
	In addition, there are approximately 210 athletics tracks in the UK, which are certified as being of Olympic size and standard but do not have suitable spectator facilities to hold international competitions.

Sports Councils

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the annual Exchequer grant aid awards to (a) UK Sports, (b) the Welsh Sports Council, (c) the Scottish Sports Council, (d) the Northern Ireland Sports Council and (e) Sport England have been in each year since 1996.

Richard Caborn: The figures requested are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  UK Sport Sport England 
		
		
			 1996–97 4,000,000 15,679,000 
			 1997–98 11,800,000 33,730,000 
			 1998–99 11,600,000 36,489,000 
			 1999–2000 12,600,000 37,523,000 
			 2000–01 12,750,000 38,323,000 
			 2001–02 16,773,000 43,162,000 
			 2002–03 16,321,000 80,324,000 
			 2003–04 23,175,000 44,572,000 
			 2004–05 27,310,000 77,052,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures for 2004–05 show plans. All other figures reflect reported outturn
	2. The UK Sports Council and English Sports Council became operational on 1 January 1997 when they superseded the Sports Council of Great Britain.
	Support for sport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved responsibility; questions should therefore be directed to each administration.

Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures her Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake to comply with the Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order 2003.

Richard Caborn: DCMS is committed to the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. As part of that Framework we are required under Part E Energy—Target E4 to source at least 15 per cent. of electricity from Good Quality Heat and Power by 2010 (allowances will be made for those Departments that already purchase combined purchase 100 per cent. renewable energy). DCMS is not able to source a suitable supply of CHP and has taken the decision to increase its procurement of renewable energy. Our offices at 2–4 Cockspur Street were supplied with a 100 per cent. Green Energy from January 2004 and our office at 179a Tottenham Road was supplied with Green Energy from September 2003. One of our NDPBs, the Science Museum has a small combined heat and power generating station.

TRANSPORT

Air Navigation Charging

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on proposed reforms to the charging system for airlines for the use of air navigation purposes.

Charlotte Atkins: The Single European Sky (SES) Regulations, which came into force on the 20 April 2004, require the development of a common charging scheme for the recovery of the costs of air navigation services provided to airlines and other airspace users. An Implementing Rule to specify the details of the new charging scheme is under development by the European Commission but has not yet been finalised.

Air Navigation Charging

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been done on the possible effects of reform of the charging system for airlines on smaller regional airlines; and what the result was of this research.

Charlotte Atkins: The Government has undertaken no research on this matter. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has produced a discussion paper outlining the flaws in the existing en-route charging system and presenting a number of key principles against which reform should be judged. A key theme of the work was that the scheme should be more cost-reflective and that the user should pay for any services used.

Aviation Fuel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what position the Government took at the recent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in respect of (a) the taxing of aviation fuel on planes, (b) the taxing of aviation fuel held in storage at airports, (c) the introduction of en route emissions charges and (d) the proposal that no use of new market mechanisms should take place until at least 2007.

Charlotte Atkins: At the 35th ICAO Assembly (27 September–8 October) the UK acted as spokesperson for the 41 member states of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC). We succeeded in getting recognition for the first time that ICAO policy on the exemption of aviation fuel from taxation has been called into question in some States which impose taxes on other transport modes and other sources of greenhouse gases.
	More generally, ECAC States succeeded in their aim of keeping open market-based options to tackle the climate change impacts of aviation. The new Assembly Resolution gives us flexibility to continue to pursue the policies set out in the Air Transport White Paper—to press for the inclusion of intra-EU aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme; as well as to explore and discuss options for the use of other economic instruments.
	States were urged to refrain from the unilateral implementation of greenhouse gas emissions charges prior to the next regular session of the Assembly in 2007—this was acceptable to ECAC as it represents a realistic time-scale for putting any market-based measures in place.

Flight Overbooking

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce legislation to address overbooking of flights by commercial airlines.

Charlotte Atkins: On any particular flight there is likely to be a proportion of passengers, mainly from those holding flexible tickets, who do not check in. On the basis of statistical evidence from previous flights, airlines estimate the probable number of no-shows and overbook accordingly. On the great majority of flights no passengers are denied boarding, and by reducing the number of empty seats overbooking keeps fares lower than they would otherwise be. This practice is widely accepted by passenger organisations and by regulators as being in the best interests of consumers generally.
	In the comparatively small proportion of cases where denied boarding occurs, existing Community legislation requires Community air carriers to provide prescribed minimum levels of financial compensation, in addition to offering passengers a choice between re-routeing and reimbursement. On 17 February 2005 a new EC Regulation is due to enter force, which will increase the minimum levels of compensation payable to those affected by overbooking and extend cover to passengers on both scheduled and non-scheduled flights.

Government Offices for the Regions

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role Government Offices for the Regions play in (a) the provision of transport and (b) the development of transport infrastructure.

Charlotte Atkins: The nine Government Offices are the primary vehicle through which a wide range of Government policies are delivered in the English regions. The Government Offices promote Government policies and programmes and use their influence to enable communities in their regions to become better places in which to live, through the effective alignment and delivery of national, regional and local priorities.
	On transport, the Government Offices assist in accelerating the delivery of the Secretary of State's national objectives for transport, including delivery of PSA targets in the region, through partnership with DfT and relevant national, regional and local bodies. The Government Offices do not have direct responsibility for the provision of transport infrastructure, but they assist in the development of such infrastructure, for example by:
	advising local authorities on the development of major transport schemes, helping to ensure that these support local transport plan objectives and the wider objectives of regional planning guidance;
	helping to inform Ministers' understanding of local authority performance and of funding priorities;
	working with regional assemblies as they develop their regional transport strategies to provide a long-term planning framework for transport in the region; and
	informing the development of national policy for transport, by giving the Department for Transport insights into local and regional issues and the practical impact of existing policies and programmes, including across transport modes.

New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years.

Charlotte Atkins: The Cabinet Office collects New Deal data centrally on a quarterly basis. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office of 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Businesses (York)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses in York (a) there were in 1997, (b) there are now, (c) started trading between 1997 and now, and (d) ceased trading between 1997 and now.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before. There were 1,400 business start-ups in York in 2003. Business start-up data for Unitary Authorities are not available for before 2003. Data on the number of business closures in each Unitary Authority are not available.
	DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations and de-registrations for York local authority are shown in the following table for 1997 and 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
	
		VAT Registrations, De-registrations and Stock in York Unitary Authority
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1997–2002 
		
		
			 VAT Registrations 435 415 410 445 440 435 — 2,580 
			 VAT De-registrations 350 330 360 360 380 390 — 2,170 
			 Start of year VAT Stock 4,035 4,115 4,200 4,250 4,335 4,395 4,440 — 
		
	
	Source:
	Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations
	1994–2002, Small Business Service, available from: www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/vatstats.php
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003. Data on the total number of businesses trading are not available below the level of government office region.

Experimental Fusion Reactor

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the Government's assessment of the EU position that the experimental fusion reactor should be built in France.

Mike O'Brien: The UK Government believe that the ITER (International Tokamak Experimental Reactor) project will have the best chance of success if it is located at the European site in France. The UK will continue to support the European bid.

Information and Communication Specialists

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Department spent on outside information technology and communication specialist consultants and engineers in and 2003–04 financial year.

Patricia Hewitt: Central records indicate that a total of £24.03 million was spent on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultancy in the 2003–04 financial year. Additional expenditure may have been incurred through local contract action. However, this information could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.

Ministerial Expenses

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in her Department have been in each year since 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: The running costs for the Ministers' private offices are as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1997–98 3.8 
			 1998–99 4.2 
			 1999–2000 3.4 
			 2000–01 3.6 
			 2001–02 (2)2.8 
			 2002–03 2.4 
			 2003–04 2.2 
		
	
	(2) Revised figure—previously published as £4.08 million.

Nuclear Waste

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reports she has received from British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. in respect of the technical possibility of the encapsulation and long-term storage of previously wet-stored Magnox fuel.

Mike O'Brien: Magnox fuel, which has become wet through storage in the reactor stations' cooling ponds or in the pond of the Fuel Handling Plant at Sellafield corrodes with time with associated release of very soluble materials. This makes reprocessing wetted fuel the preferred technical option.
	Should the Magnox reprocessing plant be unable to reprocess fuel, and there were significant quantities of wetted fuel remaining, one option could be to encapsulate intact fuel elements in drums for interim storage. Ongoing research has concentrated on the thermal and corrosion effects of a range of potential encapsulants and the durability of the resultant encapsulated package. Further research, technical and regulatory assessments would be required to provide the assurances necessary to make this option viable.

One North East

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the budget of One North East is in the current financial year.

Jacqui Smith: The gross expenditure budget for One North East in the current financial year is £271.219 million. This consists of a DTI budget of £213.949 million supplemented by income from own resources and other funding such as ERDF.

Shareholder Executive

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what authority the Minister for the Cabinet Office retains over the Shareholder Executive.

Patricia Hewitt: The Shareholder Executive advises me—and is therefore accountable to me—on my Department's shareholder or other financial interest in the following businesses: British Energy plc, British Nuclear Fuels plc, Export Credit Guarantee Department, Royal Mail Holdings plc and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

Shareholder Executive

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what appointments she has made to the Shareholder Executive.

Patricia Hewitt: A number of appointments have been made at senior civil service level and more junior grades both by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Small Businesses (Yorkshire)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses there were in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) the City of York (i) in 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available.

Nigel Griffiths: The information is as follows:
	There were 288,650 small businesses (0–49 employees) at the start of 1997 in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.
	There were 253,425 small businesses (0–49 employees) at the start of 2001 in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.
	At the start of 1997 there were 4,035 VAT registered businesses in York Unitary Authority.
	At the start of the 2003 there were 4,440 VAT registered businesses in York Unitary Authority.
	There were 72,250 new VAT registrations in Yorkshire and the Humber GOR in the years 1997 to 2002
	There were 2,580 new registrations in York UA in the years 1997 to 2002.

Sub-Post Offices

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices proposed for closure under Post Office Ltd.'s reinvention programme are in neighbourhood renewal areas; how many (a) sub-post offices have been closed, (b) sub-post offices have been saved from closure, (c) proposals have been approved by Postwatch, (d) sub-post offices have been closed against the views expressed by Postwatch, (e) proposals remain under consideration for closure and (f) proposals remain under consideration for closure while being opposed by Postwatch; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Implementation of the urban post office network reinvention programme is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond direct to my hon. Friend.

Textiles

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken by the Textile and Clothing Strategy Group since June 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: The Textiles and Clothing Strategy Group's (TCSG) second report "Making it Happen" published in July 2002 records many actions taken by Government and industry to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the sector and looks a the changes to the industry since the report was issued, considering the extent to which they affect the initial's report's recommendations and assesses, the challenges ahead.
	Actions by Government featured in "Making it Happen" include:
	£1.5 million towards a £3.8 million Textiles and Clothing Industry Forum.
	Support for textiles and clothing exporters.
	Provided a Designer Manufacturer Handbook, a "toolkit".
	Assistance for young UK designers through support to London Fashion Week.
	A technical textiles project co-ordinator and £2 million of support granted since June 2000 for technical textile projects activities.
	£2 million retraining initiative for the industry: The Strategic Training for Apparel and Textiles (STAT) programme.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Agribusiness

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's definition is of agribusiness; and whether it includes agricultural import-export investments.

Hilary Benn: An agribusiness is a business in the agricultural sector, including the processing and distribution of agricultural products, and agricultural import-export businesses.

AIDS/TB/Malaria

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department has to contribute to the global fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The UK played a leading role in setting up the global fund to tackle AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), and we believe it has a crucial role in fighting AIDS, TB and Malaria.
	In July, the UK announced a doubling of its pledge from 2005 to 2008, subject to the GFATM demonstrating its effectiveness. This brings our overall pledge to approximately £259 million (US$449 million, 2002–03 to 2007–08) making the UK the fourth largest donor to the global fund.

Bangladesh

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports he has received from the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh on the ongoing effect of the recent floods that took place in Bangladesh; what assistance the UK has given to that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Heavy monsoon rain in Bangladesh and surrounding countries in July, led to major flooding over Bangladesh. This was exacerbated by a localised monsoon depression, which swept over Bangladesh in September, bringing three limes the normal rainfall and causing flooding in Dhaka, the southwest and central areas of the country, including several districts, which had not been affected by the previous flood.
	Damage assessments, including that undertaken on behalf of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), estimate that over 33 million people have been affected by the floods, over two million dwellings damaged and some four million inhabitants displaced. Homes, schools, clinics, roads, bridges, small-scale enterprises and crops have been damaged. Many people were forced to sell off their livestock and many days employment, hence income, lost. Tube wells and other water sources were contaminated and up to three million latrines damaged or washed away, leaving the population with limited or no access to safe water and sanitation, increasing the risks of diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases. An Asian Development Bank (ADB)/World Bank (WB) mission in September estimated total damage to assets and output losses at $2.2 billion (£1.1 billion), representing 3.9 per cent. of GDP.
	The monsoon season is now nearly over and the flood situation continues to improve. All emergency flood shelters are now closed. However, there remain some rises in the Brahmaputra-Jumuna river water level, with two out of 86 monitoring stations remaining above danger level.
	When the floods commenced in July, the UK Government led the international donor community to ensure immediate emergency needs were met. The UK was the first to announce bilateral support for the flood-affected people of Bangladesh. On 26 July the UK Government allocated £10 million through DFID to meet immediate flood emergency needs. £5 million of this was channelled through United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and £5 million through World Food Programme (WFP). Supporting these two organizations ensured that both food and non-food emergency needs of those affected by the flood were met. This initial £10 million has now been fully utilised to provide food packages of rice, pulses, oil, salt and nutritionally fortified high-energy biscuits; and non-food support, including shelter and agricultural support (such as provision of seedlings) to over 900,000 families (4.5 million people) affected by the floods. In particular, the relief was targeted on the six worst affected districts—Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Sirajganj and Sunamganj.
	This assistance was delivered by 22 national and international non-governmental organisations with a strong track record in effective relief delivery in Bangladesh. These included Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Save the Children Fund (SCF) (UK), Oxfam, CARE, Islamic Relief, Concern, Christian Aid, United Nations Food and Population Fund (UNFPA), Action Aid, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases and Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR-B), Gonoshasthaya Kendra, and Handicap International.
	The UK Government then turned its attention to the extensive recovery and rehabilitation needs of Bangladesh. On 12 August, the United Nations launched its Consolidated Appeal for $210 million (£117 million) to meet relief and recovery needs for the next 6 months. Again, the UK Government acted swiftly to meet the need. I announced on 18 August an additional £15 million through DFID, for Bangladesh to support the repair, replacement and maintenance of roads and bridges; to provide food, shelter, clean water, sanitation, medial supplies; and to provide funds for cash-for-work programmes to give people affected by the floods the opportunity to earn income to help recover from the floods.
	From this £15 million, £1 million has been channelled to the World Food Programme to support their provision of food to those affected by the floods and £2 million has been channelled through UNDP to provide temporary and longer-term shelter to 194,000 flood affected families, working in partnership with the Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED). Another £4 million has been channelled through UNDP to support NGO-managed 'cash for work' programmes. £2 million is being channelled to the World Health Organisation (WHO) through UNDP to provide medical supplies to maternal and child welfare centres and urban clinics. £2 million is being channelled through UNDP to United Nations Children's Fund (UNCIEF) to work with the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) to restore access to safe water and sanitation facilities. DFID's support is contributing to UNICEF's efforts to help up to 30 million people in 40 out of Bangladesh's 64 districts.
	The final £4 million will support the Government of Bangladesh's request for emergency financing for roads, bridges and culverts damaged by the recent floods. £3.9 million is for financial aid for emergency repair and reconstruction; and a further £0.1 million for technical assistance to provide oversight to the Roads and Highways Department response.
	DFID has also lobbied the EC to increase the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO)'s contribution of €2.9 million (£2 million). The UK Government's support to Bangladesh to ensure it is better able to cope with the impact of disasters, will not stop with the end of this year's floods. The UK Government, through DFID, is providing £6 million over five years to the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme which is strengthening the Government of Bangladesh's capacity to deliver long-term sustainable risk management practices as an integral part of national development planning, and to increase the effectiveness of the Government's emergency responses and post recovery management.
	The UK Government are aware that even this generous support may not be sufficient to ensure Bangladesh can recover quickly and rebuild after the floods. That is why I have approved another £4 million today for the World Food Programme's Emergency Response Programme (EMOP), which is currently only 20 per cent. subscribed. This will enable the poorest flood victims to have continued access to food during the period of scarcity, which has followed the floods and may last up to February 2005.
	DFID is also providing £7 million over six years to strengthen the World Food Programme in Bangladesh, to better equip them to meet the food security needs of Bangladesh, including in disasters.

CDC

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list (a) current and (b) previous CDC investments in China's agribusiness sector by (i) amount, (ii) location and (iii) date.

Hilary Benn: CDC has made no investments in the agribusiness sector in China.

CDC

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the executive performance bonus scheme for CDC/Actis Capital and its objectives.

Hilary Benn: CDC has a Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP) and a Long term Incentive Plan (LTIP) for its staff. The STIP is linked to achievement of the Investment Policy Targets, prudent financial management, and development of CDC's relations with potential partners. The LTIP is linked to financial performance, mobilisation of third-party capital, and development impact.
	Remuneration in Actis is managed by its Supervisory Board. The remuneration principles are set out in Schedule 12 of the Members' Agreement, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

CDC

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much capital CDC/Actis Capital has (a) invested and (b) managed in China in each year since 1999.

Hilary Benn: The amounts are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   US$ million 
			  Amount invested Funds under management 
		
		
			 1999 0 0 
			 2000 25.0 100.0 
			 2001 30.0 100.0 
			 2002 7.5 100.0 
			 2003 12.0 100.0 
			 2004 10.0 100.0

CDC

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to his answer of 14 September 2004, Official Report, column 1518W, on CDC/Actis Capital, whether CDC's investments in China qualify as bilateral aid.

Hilary Benn: I confirm that CDC investments in China are classified as bilateral aid.

China Capital Partners

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people are employed by China Capital Partners Ltd.; and if he will list the locations of its offices.

Hilary Benn: China Capital Partners employs seven people and has one office, which is in Beijing.

Locusts

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to provide assistance to (a) Niger, (b) Mauritania, (c) Chad, (d) Gambia, (e) Mali and (f) Senegal, following the recent plague of locusts that has ravaged crops and land.

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £1.5 million to the emergency international appeal for locust control in the West Africa Region, issued by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). This appeal covers operations in all of the above countries. UK funding will assist the immediate emergency control of swarms over the next three months. In addition, the European Commission is providing €23.5 million (£16.3 million) to assist those countries worst affected. The UK's attributed share of this assistance will be approximately £3 million.

Malawi

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects his Department is supporting in the Kayezi region of Malawi.

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development supports national programmes in Malawi on health (TB, Sexual Reproductive Health Programme, National Immunization and Malaria Programme), primary education, HIV/AIDS, targeted inputs, safety and security and access to justice.
	Kayezi falls within the Mzimba district where it benefits from the programmes mentioned above.

Policy Programmes

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the policy programmes undertaken by his Department in each of the last three years, broken down by (a) risk level, (b) cost and (c) purpose of each programme; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID undertakes a large number of projects and programmes involving policy, most of which involves knowledge and research. This ranges from acquisition of knowledge to implementation of programme objectives. In reply to the hon. Member's question of 21 October 2004, Official Report, column 850W, a list of contracts including those involving knowledge and research, issued by DFID over the last five years is being placed in the Library. This includes consultants contracted for the purpose of knowledge and research. The project title in those cases provides an indication of the objective of the activity but to set out the purpose and risk level of each would involve disproportionate cost. In addition to these contracts, much of DFID's policy formulation is carried out in-house through the work of DFID's Policy Division.
	Over the last 3 years, DFID has spent £540 million on Knowledge and Research. Of the above total, expenditure on centrally funded research (that is research more concerned with global rather than country issues) is around £85 million per year rising to at least £100 million per year in 2006–07.
	DFID funds research, on a wide variety of policy issues. A Research Funding Framework has just been published which is available on the DFID website. www.dfid.gov.uk. This identifies four major themes, which will take some two-thirds of research funding: sustainable agriculture, especially in Africa; killer diseases; climate change; and work to identify policy options in situations where states do not work for the poor. Some research—such as that relating to an HIV vaccine—is high risk, but worth supporting because the potential benefits are also very high.

Private Finance Initiatives

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the Private Finance Initiative arrangements in which the Department is engaged; what the total cost of each arrangement is (a) over its lifetime and (b) in each year of its operation; and how the arrangement appears in the Department's public accounts.

Hilary Benn: DFID has no Private Finance Initiative arrangements.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Exeuctive Agencies (Yorkshire)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many full-time equivalent jobs (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies had in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (ii) the City of York in (A) 1997 and (B) the latest year for which figures are available.

Phil Hope: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1053 W.

Gypsies

Tom Cox: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Gypsy caravan sites are registered in England and Wales.

Keith Hill: As at January 2004 there were 342 local authority Gypsy and Traveller sites in England. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect data on the number of privately-owned Gypsy and Traveller sites, but does conduct a count of the number of caravans on such sites which, as at January 2004, stood at 4,890.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect data on Gypsy and Traveller sites in Wales. The Welsh Assembly has responsibility for Gypsy and Traveller policy in Wales.

Fire (Emergency Calls)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) genuine and (b) malicious false alarm fire emergency calls were received in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough in each year since 1999.

Nick Raynsford: The number of fire false alarm calls attended by the London Fire Brigade since 1999 is tabled as follows. Genuine false alarms are those generated by automatic equipment and by people believing that there was a fire (good intent).
	
		Types of fire false alarm attended by London Fire Brigade
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 
			 Borough AFA Good intent Malicious AFA Good intent Malicious 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 319 360 449 298 427 368 
			 Barnet 1,431 496 261 1,306 520 293 
			 Bexley 676 323 275 695 262 230 
			 Brent 1,263 411 429 1,312 380 482 
			 Bromley 903 384 301 905 441 256 
			 Camden 3,446 621 414 3,682 565 331 
			 City of London 936 89 27 1,014 100 26 
			 Croydon 1,065 446 386 1,138 434 352 
			 Ealing 1,490 466 380 1,420 444 347 
			 Enfield 1,059 448 387 1,302 389 337 
			 Greenwich 697 528 550 792 531 482 
			 Hackney 1,524 633 759 1,645 610 619 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,446 343 229 1,535 340 253 
			 Haringey 1,256 441 532 1,297 429 455 
			 Harrow 715 197 132 791 219 128 
			 Havering 739 286 156 536 284 163 
			 Hillingdon 2,875 485 369 2,788 481 242 
			 Hounslow 1,063 427 327 994 408 311 
			 Islington 1,606 527 515 1,726 504 512 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 2,169 334 136 2,145 374 189 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 1,029 176 148 1,151 162 92 
			 Lambeth 1,618 630 496 1,662 641 469 
			 Lewisham 1,400 521 631 1,486 449 403 
			 Merton 667 257 168 662 251 146 
			 Newham 1,054 557 915 1,029 607 914 
			 Redbridge 799 305 230 741 316 209 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 934 220 66 894 202 82 
			 Southwark 1,854 602 539 1,902 694 596 
			 Sutton 801 170 112 756 155 109 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,205 617 776 2,332 703 747 
			 Waltham Forest 803 349 391 840 345 386 
			 Wandsworth 1,739 401 332 1,725 421 266 
			 Westminster 5,214 747 569 6,153 745 475 
			 Borough not known 1,033 223 100 537 109 100 
			 Total 47,828 14,020 12,487 49,191 13,942 11,370 
		
	
	
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
			 Borough AFA Good intent Malicious AFA Good intent Malicious AFA Good intent Malicious 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 303 509 397 420 428 325 397 525 351 
			 Barnet 1,393 465 310 1,327 452 246 1,377 579 195 
			 Bexley 755 344 197 690 319 170 805 413 169 
			 Brent 1,273 403 379 1,191 407 376 1,319 447 402 
			 Bromley 1,006 436 252 901 387 182 929 511 232 
			 Camden 4,039 669 431 3,716 616 311 3,823 519 342 
			 City of London 1,097 110 33 992 99 19 1,136 122 30 
			 Croydon 1,134 530 439 1,136 476 269 1,192 547 284 
			 Ealing 1,402 442 445 1,374 427 266 1,401 527 332 
			 Enfield 1,421 505 488 1,285 475 461 1,319 599 405 
			 Greenwich 1,023 626 587 1,033 537 404 953 675 418 
			 Hackney 1,669 708 613 1,714 663 488 1,692 634 428 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,614 324 195 1,623 364 176 1,820 333 152 
			 Haringey 1,395 468 526 1,431 481 584 1,469 480 420 
			 Harrow 1,042 243 173 1,061 235 138 1,192 287 223 
			 Havering 552 363 136 554 330 130 599 441 156 
			 Hillingdon 2,849 569 379 2,544 557 303 2,502 721 267 
			 Hounslow 1,001 481 317 972 426 229 1,021 542 182 
			 Islington 1,585 563 404 1,717 494 392 1,829 519 416 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 2,246 381 225 2,156 341 155 2,189 389 161 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 1,105 175 108 1,109 152 77 1,185 198 67 
			 Lambeth 1,827 647 491 1,594 614 431 1,718 578 403 
			 Lewisham 1,649 505 470 1,353 524 314 1,258 512 654 
			 Merton 806 305 163 693 259 142 713 296 137 
			 Newham 1,029 691 939 1,125 642 805 1,037 633 636 
			 Redbridge 800 364 245 930 339 223 991 427 192 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 928 185 74 873 208 53 891 266 67 
			 Southwark 1,841 763 603 1,819 733 507 1,854 658 480 
			 Sutton 785 214 139 734 209 120 793 267 131 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,238 796 842 2,174 793 773 2,295 760 608 
			 Waltham Forest 876 335 366 817 353j 264 863 449 309 
			 Wandsworth 1,729 428 325 1,794 410 241 1,815 426 254 
			 Westminster 6,323 747 480 6,297 785 419 6,419 725 355 
			 Borough not known 90 39 33 22 19 2 40 30 6 
			 Total 50,825 15,333 12,204 49,171 14,554 9,995 50,836 16,035 9,864 
		
	
	Note:
	2002–03 excludes strike days
	Source:
	London Fire Brigade

Fire-related deaths

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many fire-related deaths in dwellings in (a) North Southwark and Bermondsey, (b) Camberwell and Peckham and (c) Dulwich and West Norwood there were in each year since 2000.

Nick Raynsford: The available information on fire-related deaths in dwelling fires recorded by the London Fire Brigade in the calendar years since 2000 is tabled as follows:
	
		
			  
		
		
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 
			 (a) North Southwark and Bermondsey 1 0 2 1 
			 (b) Camberwell and Peckham 0 0 0 1 
			 (c) Dulwich and West Norwood 1 1 0 0 
		
	
	Source:
	London Fire Brigade

Housing Renewal Pathfinder Areas

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses are earmarked for demolition (a) this and (b) next year in each of the Housing Pathfinder areas in England.

Keith Hill: The following table outlines the estimated demolitions in the eight pathfinders that have been awarded grant from the housing market renewal fund for the period to March 2006.
	
		
			 Pathfinder Estimated demolition figures 
			  Up to March 2005 Up to March 2006 
		
		
			 Birmingham Sandwell 200 400 
			 East Lancashire 200 600 
			 Manchester Salford 500 700 
			 Merseyside 1000 1,700 
			 Newcastle Gateshead 1000 1000 
			 North Staffordshire 45 55 
			 Oldham Rochdale 150 150 
			 South Yorkshire 700 900 
			 Total 3,795 5,505

Indemnity

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the personal indemnity of members and officers of local authorities; and what plans he has to change the Government advice on such indemnity.

Nick Raynsford: A draft order on indemnities for relevant authority members and officers was considered by Committee on 20 October 2004 and approved by the whole House on 25 October 2004. It is awaiting consideration in the other place.
	The order would permit (but not oblige) authorities to provide indemnities and insurance that would provide "cover" for a member or officer:
	if the member or officer had acted honestly and in good faith when taking the action giving rise to the liability
	if the authority was found to have acted ultra vires, but at the point at which the member or officer acted that member or officer honestly and reasonably believed that the action or advice giving rise to the liability was intra vires the authority;
	to cover the costs incurred by a member in relation to defence of proceedings under the Code of Conduct but limited to cases in which the member is found not to have breached the code.
	Copies of the draft order are available in the House Library.

Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussion took place between his Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the effects of the landfill allowance trading scheme on local authorities in growth areas.

Nick Raynsford: Discussions take place between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regularly to consider issues such as the landfill allowance trading scheme.

Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what additional funding will be given to local authorities in growth areas through the Environmental protection and cultural services block grant to compensate for the effects of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.

Nick Raynsford: The Spending Review 2004 provides £7.2 billion more in general grant for local government programmes by 2007–08 over 2004–05. Part of these resources will support the achievement of significant diversion of waste from landfill during the SR04 period. The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme is designed to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste that is sent to landfill in England in the most cost-effective way. The Government recognises that certain authorities facing above average population growth may find the implementation of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme challenging and there are a range of measures in place to support local authorities meeting this challenge. In addition, officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are meeting with representatives from certain growth areas to discuss the issues surrounding population growth.

Local Authority Housing

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have (a) started and (b) completed their consultation with tenants on (i) arm's length management organisations (ALMOs), (ii) use of the private finance initiative and (iii) use of stock transfer in relation to ownership of housing; which of those authorities have held ballots with their tenants on ALMOs, PFI and stock transfer; when those ballots were held; and what percentage was (A) in favour and (B) against each option in each such ballot.

Keith Hill: Consultation with tenants occurs throughout the Options Appraisal process. Local authorities are all required to go through this process, but an Options Appraisal will not be signed off unless the Government Office is satisfied that tenants are properly consulted. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister would normally consider a ballot to be the most formal type of consultation with tenants. These are normally only undertaken for transfer and Arm's Length Management Organisations (ALMOs). Although ballots are not generally undertaken for PFI schemes, tenants are required to be consulted and section 27 consent must be given.
	Tabled is a detailed breakdown of the figures requested. It covers all ballots since the Decent Homes Programme began in 2001, including partials, and shows that 73 ballots have taken place for transfer, while 18 have balloted tenants successfully for Arm's Length Management Programmes.
	42 local authorities have had their Options Appraisals signed off by Government Offices. 150 local authorities have not had Options Appraisals signed off, and so are either engaging with tenants or about to do so.
	
		Transfer ballots since 2001
		
			 Local authority Against Ballot date In favour 
			 2001 Programme 
		
		
			 Birmingham April 2002 43.2 66.8 
			 Carlisle CC June/July 2002 52.0 48 
			 Chelmsford BC September 2001 55.7 54.3 
			 City of Bradford March 2002 62.2 37.8 
			 Craven September 2002 75.6 24.4 
			 Crewe and Nantwich BC February 2002 64.9 35.1 
			 Derbyshire Dales DC June/July 2001 69.3 30.7 
			 Dudley November 2001 43.8 56.2 
			 East Herts DC November 2001 76.4 23.6 
			 Erewash June/July 2001 75 25 
			 Herefordshire C April 2002 57.7 42.3 
			 Knowsley MBC November/December 2001 73.9 26.1 
			 LB Hackney (sheltered stock) November/December 2001 71 29 
			 LB Harrow March 2002 74.6 25.4 
			 LB Merton (partial) July 2002 48.5 51.5 
			 LB Waltham Forest (partial) January 02 62.3 37.7 
			 Liverpool CC—Eastern Fringe (Central) March 2002 87.8 12.2 
			 Liverpool CC—Eastern Fringe (North) March 2002 66.4 33.6 
			 Liverpool CC—Eastern Fringe (South) March 2002 78.5 21.5 
			 Manchester CC—Langley Estates November 2001 68 32 
			 Mid Bedfordshire DC March/April 2001 51 49 
			 Redcar and Cleveland BC August 2001 89 11 
			 Reigate and Banstead BC August 2001 80.8 19.2 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham BC March/April 2001 64.7 35.3 
			 St. Edmundsbury BC September 2001 71.5 28.5 
			 LB Southwark (partial) November/December 2001 26 73.1 
			 St. Helens MBC October 2001 83 17 
			 Vale Royal BC November 2001 85.2 14.8 
			 Walsall October 2001 71 29 
			 Walsall July 2002 74.1 25.9 
			 2002 Programme
			 Amber Valley BC August 2002 56.9 43.1 
			 Bromsgrove DC July 2003 67.8 32.2 
			 Cherwell DC July 2003 59.1 40.9 
			 Copeland BC July 2003 78 22 
			 Forest of Dean DC July 2002 69.1 30.9 
			 LB Ealing (Havelock) October/November 2002 47.6 52.4 
			 Liverpool CC (Kensington) November 2003 61.3 38.7 
			 Maidstone BC March 2003 61.3 38.7 
			 Manchester C (Carbrook) April 2003 95.1 4.9 
			 Manchester C (East Manchester) December 2002 68 32 
			 North Hertfordshire July 2002 59.9 40.1 
			 Nuneaton and Bedworth BC April 2003 40.3 59.7 
			 Oldham MBC (Limeside) October 2002 87 13 
			 Oldham MBC (Fitton Hill) July 2003 83 17 
			 Rushcliffe BC July 2003 52.1 37.9 
			 Scarborough BC December 2002 71.7 28.3 
			 South Norfolk C July 2003 68 32 
			 Stockport MBC March 2003 45 55 
			 Teignbridge DC March 2003 64.5 35.5 
			 Worcester July 2003 75 25 
			 2003 Programme
			 Forest Heath DC December 2003 57.9 42.1 
			 Hartlepool BC July 2003 75 25 
			 LB Hackney (Kings Crescent) December 2002 79 21 
			 LB Islington (Grove) July 2004 72.8 27.2 
			 LB Islington (Surr Street) July 2004 55.8 44.2 
			 LB Islington (Tollington) November 2003 39.9 60.1 
			 LB Lambeth (Kennington Park) July 2004 60 40 
			 LB Tower Hamlets (Crossways) October 2004 90 10 
			 LB Tower Hamlets (Mile End) June 2004 55.9 44.1 
			 Manchester CC (Woodhouse Park) March 2004 92.7 7.3 
			 Middlesbrough February 2004 77.1 22.9 
			 North East Lincolnshire May 2004 67.3 32.7 
			 Peterborough CC December 2003 81.5 18.5 
			 Purbeck DC October 2003 69.7 30.3 
			 RB Kingston May 2004 63 37 
			 South Norfolk July 2003 68 38 
			 Stroud DC November 2003 43.2 56.7 
			 Trafford MBC March 2004 72.9 27.1 
			 Wakefield MDC February 2004 74 26 
			 Wirral MBC April 2004 77.36 22.64 
			 2004 Programme
			 Tower Hamlets (Tarling East) August 2004 77.1 22.9 
		
	
	
		ALMO Ballots since 2001
		
			 Local authority Ballot date In favour Against 
			 ALMO Round 1
		
		
			 Derby February 2002 88 12 
			 Hounslow March 2002 83 17 
			 Kirklees December 2001 81 19 
			 Rochdale February 2002 90 10 
			 Stockton-on-Tees February 2002 93 7 
			 ALMO Round 2
			 Carrick January 2002 96 4 
			 Colchester July 2003 76 24 
			 Leeds—East June 2002 83 17 
			 Leeds—North East June 2002 88 12 
			 Leeds—North West July 2002 89 11 
			 Leeds—South August 2002 91 9 
			 Leeds—South East September 2002 88 12 
			 Leeds—West October 2002 90 10 
			 Waltham Forest October 2002 85 15 
			 ALMO Round 3
			 Camden December 2003 23 17 
			 Harrow March 2003 73 27 
			 High Peak August 2003 98 2 
			 Islington November 2003 85 15 
			 Sheffield: Brightside and Shiregreen December 2003 78 12 
			 Sheffield: Central Area December 2003 87 13 
			 South Lakeland October 2003 88 12 
			 ALMO Round 4
			 Bassetlaw May 2004 88 12 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham October 2003 83 17 
			 Nottingham July 2004 76 24 
			 Sheffield: Hillsborough, Nether Thorpe March 2004 87 13 
			 Sheffield: Parson Cross, Foxhill, Longley March 2004 94 6 
			 Sheffield: Westfield, Hackenthorpe March 2004 89 11 
		
	
	
		PFI schemes since 2001
		
			 Local authority Date In favour Against 
		
		
			 Schemes balloted on since 2001
			 Leeds March 2002 46 54 
			 Camden March 2004 20 80 
		
	
	
		Schemes with section 27 consent since 2001
		
			  Date 
		
		
			 Islington March 2003 
			 Manchester March 2003 
			 Reading March 2004

Local Government (North-east)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for North Essex on 20 October 2004, Official Report, columns 879–80, on local government administration in the North-East after the referendum, whether he intends to reduce the number of councils regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

Nick Raynsford: There are at present no plans to introduce changes to the structure of local government except in those areas where an elected regional assembly is established. Under the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act local government change can only be introduced if a referendum has been held and an elected regional assembly is to be established as a result.

Northern Distributor Road

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what evaluation has been made of the effect of the second section of the Northern Distributor Road on the Church Marshes country park at Kemsley, near Sittingbourne.

Keith Hill: The Swale borough local plan, adopted in July 2000, proposed bringing the Church Marshes country park into public use as a recreation area and country park and made specific reference to the need to safeguard reserved land for the road proposals. The county council is working closely with Swale borough council and Medway Swale Groundwork who are progressing the country park. As part of the planning application for the new road, an Environmental Statement is being produced and this will cover all the environmental aspects and mitigation measures.

Northern Distributor Road

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment has been made of the second section of the Northern Distributor Road's proximity to local housing at Kemsley, near Sittingbourne.

Keith Hill: As part of the planning application for the new road, an Environmental Statement is being produced. This will make an assessment of the traffic noise and visual intrusion on properties.

Northern Distributor Road

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what public consultation there has been on the second section of the Northern Distributor Road in Milton.

Keith Hill: An exhibition has been recently held in the area and comments on the proposal were invited. The responses will form part of the normal consultation undertaken by the planning authority in consideration of the Planning Application about to be submitted.

Planning Applications

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the average time taken to process planning applications.

Keith Hill: The performance of authorities in handling planning applications is measured both against targets set for the proportion of decisions taken within set time limits, and targets for average determination times. The Government's PSA6 target for planning delivery states that English local authorities taken together will process an average of 65 per cent. of major applications in 13 weeks, 72 per cent. of minor applications in eight weeks, and 87 per cent. of other applications in eight weeks by 31 March 2007.
	The latest available data for the year ending June 2004, shows that planning authorities determined 53 per cent. of major applications in 13 weeks, 66 per cent. of minor applications, and 82 per cent. of other applications, in eight weeks. This is an improvement on previous years and these figures show that the Government is on target to meet it's PSA6 target for Planning Delivery by 31 March 2007.

Police Funding

Tim Boswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what adjustments in the (a) police funding formula and (b) capping regime he plans to make to take account of strategic development plans for expansion in the South-East and East Midlands.

Nick Raynsford: The Police funding formula estimates relative need for police resources. Formula grant allocations are currently subject to floors and ceilings.
	Decisions on the floors and ceilings for 2005–06 have not yet been taken. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is actively considering the effects of the ceiling policy on rapid population growth areas in advance of the 2005–06 allocation. Looking further ahead, we are committed to delivering three-year settlements for local government, and will be addressing Kate Barker's recommendation to make the grant system more forward looking.
	No decisions on capping in 2005–06 and beyond have been made. But the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made it clear that we expect to see significantly lower council tax increases next year and will take even tougher capping action in 2005–06 if that proves necessary.

Social Housing (London)

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advice is given to London Boroughs on (a) disposal of property assets and (b) meeting the need for social housing in London; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, gives authorities discretion to dispose of land in any manner they wish although it is generally expected that local authority property should be sold for the best consideration reasonably obtainable (usually open market value). Consent of the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is required to dispose of land if it falls outside the scope of the General Disposal Consent given in Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Circular 06/2003.
	The revised General Disposal Consent that came into effect on 4 August 2003 gave local authorities greater freedom and flexibility to make decisions about land disposals which will contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of an area at less than best consideration, providedthat the undervalue does not exceed two million pounds.
	For the disposal of housing land and property, whether by sale of the freehold or on leasehold, terms local authorities require the consent of the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister under Section 32 of the Housing Act 1985. The General Consents for the disposal of Houses and Land 1999, issued under Section 32, cover the most common types of small disposal of untenanted stock or disposals to sitting tenants, and includes a commentary giving guidance to local authorities. However, where a proposed disposal falls outside the terms of these General Consents, a local authority may apply to the Secretary of State, my right. hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister for a specific consent under section 32.
	Local authorities have both housing and planning responsibilities, and are required to produce local housing strategies and local development frameworks. Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing (March 2000), paragraph 13, states that assessments of housing need that underpin local housing strategies and local plan policies are matters for local authorities to undertake in the light of their local circumstances. Advice to assist local authorities in preparing local housing needs assessments is set out in "Local Housing Needs Assessment": "A Guide to Good Practice (Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions, July 2000)". It is intended to publish an updated PPG3 in the Autumn.

Standards Board

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many complaints against councillors he has received in each year since the inception of the Standards Board, broken down by local authority; and whether the complaint (a) was proven, (b) was unproven or rejected for lack of evidence and (c) is pending in each case.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no remit in the consideration of allegations of misconduct against local authority members. The investigation of such allegations is a matter for ethical standards officers appointed by the Standards Board for England.
	The Standards Board does not hold information in the form requested, and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, information in respect of the number of cases received in 2003–04 is tabled as follows, of the total of 3,566 allegations listed in Table 1 about 1,100 cases were referred for investigation. The types of finding made following the completion of investigations are set out in Table 2.
	
		Table 1
		
			 Type of authority Number of allegations received 2003–04 
		
		
			 County council 156 
			 District council 932 
			 Unitary council 296 
			 Parish/Town council 1,754 
			 London borough 146 
			 Metropolitan borough 252 
			 Other authority 30 
			 Total 3,566 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Type of finding following investigations completed 2003–04
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Either no breach or a breach but no further action needed 661 
			 Referral of cases for determination by standards committees at local level 60 
			 Referral of cases for determination by the Adjudication Panel 102 
			 Total 823

Standards Board

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average time taken for deliberation on a complaint received by the Standards Board is; and what the longest time someone has waited for a verdict is.

Nick Raynsford: The current average time taken for all cases received by the Standards Board from receipt to the completion of investigations by the board's ethical standards officers is about three months. The longest time so far taken from the receipt of a case to its conclusion through a finding of an ethical standards officer or the determination of a standards committee or the Adjudication Panel for England, is 667 days.

Supporting People

Mark Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what systems his Department operates for monitoring individual Supporting People projects.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not monitor individual Supporting People services but does have a rigorous system for monitoring the level of service provision in each administrative authority. This includes capturing information on all reviews carried out on individual Supporting People services, the number of services provided for each client group and we will soon be collecting data on positive outcomes delivered for vulnerable people.

Supporting People

Mark Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether Supporting People projects are under the same statutory obligation to support vulnerable people as local authorities.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has grant conditions that govern the use of the Supporting People grant by administering authorities. On the basis of these conditions, all administering authorities enter in to a legally binding contractual relationship with service providers, and these service providers therefore have a legal obligation to provide housing related support services to vulnerable users until the contractual relationship expires.

Supporting People

Mark Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what independent right of appeal exists for individuals disappointed with the service from Supporting People projects.

Keith Hill: Administering authorities are responsible for commissioning and overseeing Supporting People services. Individual Supporting People services should have in place a robust complaints procedure which all service users can access and understand easily. They can also appeal to the administering authority if they are disappointed with the service. The views of service users, particularly on the quality of the service, are also taken into account in the administering authority's review of every service.

Supporting People

Mark Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what responsibility his Department has for setting (a) budgets and (b) guidelines for the Supporting People initiative.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has lead responsibility for the operation of the Supporting People programme. However:
	(a) The budget for the programme for the next three years was decided as part of the Spending Review 2004 negotiations. Over £5 billion will be allocated to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Supporting People over the next three years. We are now working on the allocation of this budget to individual local authorities.
	(b) The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister sets the grant conditions for the Supporting People programme following consultation with other Government Departments and other key stakeholders. They are also formally approved by the Treasury. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is also responsible for issuing other guidelines on the programme, and does this in conjunction with other Government Departments, as Supporting People is a cross-cutting programme.

Women's Refuges

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what public funds are available to women's refuges for support of women and children.

Phil Hope: The Supporting People Programme makes funding available for the provision of housing-related support services to enable individuals to maintain or improve independent living. It is for individual Supporting People Commissioning Bodies and Administering Authorities, operating at the top-tier level of local government, to decide what services should be provided in their area. This can, however, include services for people fleeing domestic violence, including services provided at or through women's refuges. The national Supporting People budget for 2004–05 is £1.8 billion, and Administering Authorities forecast that £56.97 million of this will be spent on housing-related support services for women fleeing domestic violence.
	Public funds are also available in the form of housing benefit where appropriate, to assist with rental costs. Refuges working in partnership with registered social landlords (RSLs) can also apply for the Social Housing Grant, to assist with repairs and refurbishment costs or new development.
	As children are not regarded as being capable of maintaining an independent tenancy, Supporting People does not directly provide support to them. However, they will be able to benefit from relevant housing-related support services aimed at their parents.

HEALTH

Air Ambulances

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost to the NHS has been of helicopter hire for emergency services purposes in each year since 1992.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally. It is for each national health service trust to decide how best to make use of its resources.

Alzheimer's Disease

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total expenditure on drugs available on the NHS for Alzheimer's disease was in North Southwark and Bermondsey in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 26 October 2004
	Data on the number of prescription items dispensed in the community and the net ingredient cost is collected by the Prescription Pricing Authority. The total number of prescription items dispensed for dementia drugs and the net ingredient cost of these drugs, in the area covered by Southwark Primary Care Trust from 2001 to 2003, is shown in the following table. Data is not available at constituency level or before 2001.
	
		Number of prescription items and net ingredient cost of all drugs for dementia that were dispensed in the community in Southwark Primary Care Trust (PCT) and in England
		
			  2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Number of prescription items 
			 Southwark PCT (Thousand) 0.1 0.4 0.7 
			 England (Thousand) 122.1 231.3 358.2 
			 
			 Net ingredient cost
			 Southwark PCT (£000) 9.4 25.7 42.4 
			 England (£000) 11,004.6 20,567.1 31,347.5 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. PCA data covers all prescription items that are dispensed in the community in England, (this covers items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered. PCA data does not include items dispensed in hospitals or private prescriptions. PCA data includes the PCT in which the drug for dementia was dispensed in.
	2. Drugs for dementia are defined in the British National Formulary (BNF) section 4.11 "Drugs for dementia".
	3. Doctors, dentists or nurses write prescriptions on a prescription form. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item.
	4. Net ingredient cost refers to the basic cost (which the dispenser is reimbursed) of the drug before discounts and does not include any dispensing costs or fees.
	Source:
	Prescription cost analysis (PCA) data from the Prescription Pricing Authority.

Antidepressants

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much the NHS spent on antidepressants in real terms in each year since 1997 in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority;
	(2)  how many prescriptions for antidepressants were given in the NHS in each year since 1997 in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority.

Rosie Winterton: Information at strategic health authority (SHA) level is only available for 2002 and 2003. Information on the number of prescription items and net ingredient cost of all antidepressants dispensed in the community in England from 1997, and the number of prescription items and net ingredient cost of all antidepressants prescribed in general practitioner practices in England, that were dispensed in the community in 2002 and 2003, broken down by SHA have been placed in the Library.

Disabled People (Independent Living)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the proposed right to independent living for disabled people; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government actively promotes a range of initiatives designed to support independent living for disabled people. Independent living is also one of the key themes in the project, "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People," currently being carried out by the strategy unit.

Doctor and Nurse Numbers

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed in Nottingham (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is shown in the table.
	
		Numbers of doctors and nurses employed in Nottingham(3)
		
			  Doctors(4) Nurses(5) 
		
		
			 1997   
			 Nottingham Health Authority 1,471 4,695 
			 Total 1,471 4,695 
			
			 2003   
			 Broxtowe and Hucknall Primary Care Trust (PCT) 67 154 
			 Gedling PCT 91 193 
			 Nottingham City PCT 190 853 
			 Rushcliffe PCT 104 267 
			 Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust 421 1,170 
			 Queens Medical Centre NHS Trust 724 2,040 
			 Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 229 1,775 
			 Total 1,826 6,452 
		
	
	(3) Latest available information.
	(4) These figures include HCHS doctors and general medical practitioners.
	(5) These figures include qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff and general practitioner nurses.
	Sources:
	Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
	Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census.
	Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.

Drug Action Teams

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the real terms percentage change in the budget for each drug action team in England was in each year from 1996–97 to 2003–04; what the percentage change will be from 2003–04 to 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: pursuant to her reply, 18 May 2004, Official Report, c. 947W
	I regret that my previous reply was incorrect. This was due to an administrative oversight with the collection of the statistics. It should read as follows:
	This is the first Government to make substantial funding available for drug treatment. The pooled drug treatment budget totalled £129 million in 2001–02. In 2002–03, the total budget was £195.7 million and this increased to £243.6 million in 2003–04. This additional funding means that all drug action teams (DATs) received a minimum increase of 30 per cent. in 2002–03, with a further average increase of 24 per cent. in 2003–04.
	Information on percentage increases in the budget of DATs between 1996 and 2001–02 is not available, as drug treatment was then part of mainstream expenditure. Figures for the increases from 2001 to 2005 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Percentage increase 
			 Drug Action Team 2001–02 to 2002–03 2002–03 to 2003–04 2003–04 to 2004–05 
		
		
			 Bradford 42 34 14 
			 Calderdale 36 26 9 
			 Kirklees 36 26 9 
			 Durham 35 25 7 
			 Darlington 35 24 7 
			 East Riding 39 32 13 
			 Kingston upon Hull 39 29 11 
			 Gateshead 36 25 7 
			 South Tyneside 36 27 9 
			 Leeds 32 21 4 
			 Newcastle 35 24 7 
			 North Tyneside 35 25 8 
			 North Yorkshire 30 18 1 
			 City of York 30 21 4 
			 Northumberland 33 20 4 
			 Sunderland 36 27 9 
			 Stockton 43 37 17 
			 Hartlepool 43 35 15 
			 Middlesbrough 43 35 16 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 43 38 18 
			 Wakefield 31 19 2 
			 Barnsley 35 23 6 
			 Doncaster 38 30 12 
			 Leicester City 36 25 8 
			 Leicestershire 36 28 10 
			 Rutland 36 20 4 
			 Lincolnshire 31 19 3 
			 Rotherham 35 24 7 
			 Sheffield 36 25 8 
			 North Lincolnshire 42 28 10 
			 North East Lincolnshire 42 49 25 
			 Bedfordshire 33 21 5 
			 Luton 33 24 7 
			 Cambridgeshire 30 11 0 
			 Peterborough 30 12 0 
			 Hertfordshire 30 10 0 
			 Norfolk 32 20 4 
			 Suffolk 30 17 0 
			 Barking 36 31 13 
			 Havering 36 26 8 
			 Barnet 41 26 9 
			 Enfield 41 33 14 
			 Haringey 41 36 16 
			 Bexley 36 26 9 
			 Bromley 36 26 9 
			 Greenwich 36 29 11 
			 Brent 38 35 15 
			 Harrow 38 27 10 
			 Camden 30 22 5 
			 Islington 30 20 4 
			 Croydon 40 29 11 
			 Ealing 31 19 2 
			 Hammersmith 31 21 4 
			 Hounslow 31 21 4 
			 City of London 38 66 34 
			 Hackney 38 30 12 
			 Newham 38 38 18 
			 Tower Hamlets 38 30 12 
			 Hillingdon 30 17 0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 30 10 0 
			 Westminster 30 10 0 
			 Kingston upon Thames 30 10 0 
			 Richmond upon Thames 30 10 0 
			 Lambeth 36 34 15 
			 Lewisham 36 28 10 
			 Southwark 36 34 15 
			 Merton 30 18 2 
			 Sutton 30 17 0 
			 Wandsworth 30 20 4 
			 Redbridge 43 37 17 
			 Waltham Forest 43 42 20 
			 West Berkshire 30 11 0 
			 Reading 30 13 0 
			 Slough 30 14 0 
			 Wokingham 30 12 0 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 30 11 0 
			 Bracknell Forest 30 12 0 
			 Milton Keynes 30 11 0 
			 Buckinghamshire 30 11 0 
			 East Sussex 35 23 6 
			 Brighton and Hove 35 25 7 
			 Northamptonshire 32 21 4 
			 Oxfordshire 30 10 0 
			 West Sussex 30 10 0 
			 Bristol 31 21 4 
			 South Gloucestershire 31 21 4 
			 North Somerset 31 19 2 
			 Bath and NE Somerset 31 21 4 
			 Cornwall/Isles of Scilly 35 24 7 
			 Bournemouth 30 18 1 
			 Poole 30 14 0 
			 Dorset 30 13 0 
			 Gloucestershire 30 18 2 
			 Somerset 30 16 0 
			 Swindon 30 12 0 
			 Wiltshire 30 10 0 
			 Birmingham 43 37 17 
			 Coventry 40 35 16 
			 Dudley 37 28 10 
			 Herefordshire 30 16 0 
			 Sandwell 39 29 11 
			 Shropshire 31 20 4 
			 Telford and Wrekin 31 21 4 
			 Solihull 34 22 6 
			 Walsall 36 26 8 
			 Warwickshire 30 18 2 
			 Wolverhampton 41 34 15 
			 Worcestershire 31 20 3 
			 Bury 36 25 8 
			 Rochdale 36 25 8 
			 Liverpool 43 37 17 
			 Manchester 35 25 8 
			 Halton 36 27 10 
			 Warrington 36 27 9 
			 Trafford 30 17 1 
			 Salford 30 18 2 
			 Sefton 38 30 12 
			 South Cheshire 31 19 3 
			 St. Helens 42 34 15 
			 Knowsley 42 42 20 
			 Stockport 34 22 6 
			 Oldham 36 26 8 
			 Tameside 36 23 6 
			 Wigan 37 28 10 
			 Bolton 37 25 8 
			 Wirral 45 37 17 
			 Derbyshire 36 29 11 
			 Derby City 38 25 8 
			 Nottinghamshire 40 34 15 
			 City of Nottingham 39 33 14 
			 Essex 30 23 6 
			 Thurrock 37 24 7 
			 Southend 37 17 0 
			 Kent 36 21 4 
			 Medway Towns 30 23 6 
			 Surrey 30 10 0 
			 Portsmouth 33 18 2 
			 Isle of Wight 33 23 6 
			 Hampshire 30 10 0 
			 Southampton 30 19 2 
			 Devon 30 18 1 
			 Torbay 30 20 3 
			 Plymouth 30 17 1 
			 Stoke on Trent 35 24 7 
			 Staffordshire 34 24 7 
			 Cumbria 35 24 7 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 36 27 9 
			 Blackpool 38 23 6 
			 Lancashire 32 27 9 
			 
			 Total average percentage  increase 35 24 7 
		
	
	Note:
	Percentage increases have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Learning Disorders

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the percentage of school age children with some degree of learning disorder, broken down by type of disorder.

Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
	From January 2004 the Department began collecting data about children's type of Special Educational Need (SEN) as part of the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC).
	Maintained and non-maintained schools were asked to record pupils' primary or greatest special need and also their secondary need where that was appropriate. Data were collected for all pupils with statements of SEN and those at School Action Plus. As this is the first year of collection, the data need to be treated with a degree of caution.
	Nationally, 3 per cent. of school pupils have statements of SEN and 4.6 per cent. of school pupils are at School Action Plus.
	Many pupils have more than one type of need. The table only gives figures for pupils' greatest or primary need of those with a statement of SEN or at School Action.
	
		
			  Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Specific Learning Difficulty 83,780 14.2 
			 Moderate Learning Difficulty 171,930 29.2 
			 Severe Learning Difficulty 32,020 5.4 
			 Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty 7,780 1.3 
			 Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulty 126,890 21.6 
			 Speech, Language and  Communication Needs 63,890 10.9 
			 Autistic Spectrum Disorder 31,260 5.3 
			 Visual impairment 7,170 1.2 
			 Hearing Impairment 12,960 2.2 
			 Multi-Sensory Impairment 860 0.1 
			 Physical Disability 24,660 4.2 
			 Other 25,530 4.3 
		
	
	Of these, about 40 per cent. (237,000) have statements of SEN, the others are at School Action plus.

Long-term Care

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many older people are in receipt of long-term care in England; and how many have been in receipt of long-term care for over three years.

Stephen Ladyman: At 31 March 2001, there were about 403,000 places available in care homes in England for people aged 65 and over. This includes places in residential homes, general and mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission, and now CSCI, but comparable details are not available.
	In 2002–03, 989,000 people aged 65 or over were receiving community-based services in England. This includes day care, meals, respite care, direct payments, professional support, transport and equipment as well as home care. This data excludes privately-funded residents.
	A study conducted by the personal services research unit at the University of Kent in 1996 found that, on a snapshot, around 40 per cent., of older, publicly-funded residents had been in a care home for three years or more. This data excludes people who purchase their care privately.

Mental Health

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health services for children and young people.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department is undertaking a programme of improvement in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). It is providing an additional £300 million to local authorities and the national health service from 2003–04 to 2005–06 for this purpose.
	The Department published the children's national service framework (NSF) on 15 September 2004. This includes a standard on the mental health and psychological well-being of children and young people, setting out the recommended approach for providing comprehensive CAMHS to all who need them. A national CAMHS support service has been established to help local CAMHS providers and commissioners develop their services in line with the guidance set out in the children's NSF.

Mobile Phones

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mobile phones were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; and what their cost was.

Rosie Winterton: Details of numbers and users of central departmental mobile phones are not kept on an annual basis. Information is therefore available only on the current position. There are 1,102 mobile phones currently in use, of which nine are used by Ministers and special advisers and 1,093 by officials.
	The costs of the equipment, call charges and line rental in each financial year since 2001–02 are shown in table 1. Figures for the years 1997–98 to 2000–01 are not available.
	
		1. Financial year costs
		
			 Financial year Amount (£) 
		
		
			 2001–02 270,000 
			 2002–03 280,000 
			 2003–04 304,000 
			 2004–05 (6)144,500 
		
	
	(6) Figure to date.
	Number of mobile phones lost and stolen and their cost are shown in table 2. Departmental records do not differentiate between lost and stolen mobile phones.
	
		2. Lost/stolen phones and cost of replacement
		
			 Financial year Numbers lost/stolen Replacement purchase cost (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 19 769 
			 1998–99 19 691 
			 1999–2000 26 557 
			 2000–01 43 1,332 
			 2001–02 37 987 
			 2002–03 37 2,693 
			 2003–04 29 1,954 
			 2004–05 51(7) 538 
		
	
	(7) Figure to date.

New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many personnel the Department has recruited under the new deal in each of the past five years.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 26 October 2004
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W, by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly).

NHS Dentistry

Douglas Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of NHS dentistry within a 20 mile radius of Sleaford; and what steps he will take to ensure that new patients will be accepted for NHS dentistry services in the area.

Stephen Ladyman: The Health and Social Care Act 2003 gave local primary care trusts the responsibility to ensure that primary dental services are accessible for the people who seek them in their area.

NHS Facilities

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional NHS facilities have been made available to people in Nottingham since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The following additional facilities have been made available to the people of Nottingham since 1997.
	Trent Strategic Health Authority (SHA)—Trent access and choice pilot (TRAC):
	Trent SHA is a pilot site for introducing choice ahead of national timescales.
	TRAC is working with three general practitioner practices, including one in Nottingham. From July 2003, the pilots have been offering a choice to patients on the waiting list for cataract operations. Initially this is a choice of national health service trusts and agreements are being reached with local trusts to provide extra clinics on a trial basis for TRAC.
	Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust:
	Ear, nose and throat/ophthalmology unit opened in 2001.
	Accident and emergency department expanded and modernised in 2003.
	Maternity unit modernised and refurbished in 20O3.
	Patient advice and liaison service set up in 2003.
	Simulation and clinical skills centre opened in 2004.
	New magnetic resonance imaging scanner operational in 2004.
	Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust:
	Extension of cardiac surgery unit (extension of existing services) 1997.
	New high dependency unit (new service) opened 2000.
	Re-provision of the endoscopy unit (to existing service) opened in 2001.
	New orthopaedic pre-operative assessment suite (new service) opened in 2002.
	Re-provision of the breast unit, which opened in 2003.
	New clinical haematology wards opened in 2003.
	Walk in Centre:
	Nottingham walk-in-centre opened in June 2000.
	Dental Access Centre (DAC):
	A DAC was opened in Nottingham City Primary Care Trust in 2001.
	Personal Dental Services—fieldsites:
	Two personal dental services also opened in Nottingham in January 2004, at Broxtowe and Hucknall and Rushcliffe.
	Independent Sector Treatment Centre:
	Based at Barlborough, at junction 30 of the M1. An interim service is being provided from Bassetlaw and Ilkeston hospital, which commenced in April 2004. The full service from the new facility is due to commence in May 2005.
	Pharmacy information:
	Since 1997–98, five pharmacies have opened in the Nottingham area.

Pharmacies

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 18 October 2004, Official Report, column 497W, on pharmacies, what progress he is making in reviewing legislation regarding the arrangements for the dispensing and sale of medicines; and when he intends to consult on possible changes.

Rosie Winterton: Good progress is being made and I hope to be able to issue a consultation document soon.

Silzone Heart Valves

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will take measures to ensure that all UK recipients of the St. Jude Silzone heart valve are alerted to the problems associated with these valves;
	(2)  what information he has collated on the compliance of cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists with the departmental advice of (a) November 1999 and (b) January 2000 regarding Silzone heart valves.

Rosie Winterton: The Department issued advice to United Kingdom cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists on the problems associated with the St. Jude Silzone heart valve in November 1999 and January 2000. Specifically, the Department advised clinicians of the recall of Silzone heart valves; of the increased risk of complications with the Silzone heart valves and of the consequent need to undertake early review of all patients implanted with these valves. Clinicians are responsible for acting on this advice and for bringing relevant information to the attention of their patients.

Silzone Heart Valves

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make representations to the relevant authorities in the Republic of Ireland that they should alert Irish citizens who have received the St. Jude Silzone heart valve to the problems associated with these valves.

Rosie Winterton: The Department notified other European competent authorities of the action taken in the United Kingdom, in relation to Silzone heart valves, via notifications through the medical devices vigilance system on 19 November 1999 and 3 February 2000. These notifications informed other European competent authorities of the UK's recommendation to undertake an early review of all patients implanted with the Silzone heart valve and gave background to this advice. Notifications of this type are the recognised method for exchanging information on the safety of medical devices between European member states.

Silzone Heart Valves

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library copies of his departmental advice to UK cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists in (a) November 1999 and (b) January 2000 regarding Silzone heart valves.

Rosie Winterton: Copies of the advice regarding Silzone heart valves (MDA AN1999(06), MDA DA2000(01)), issued to United Kingdom cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists in November 1999 and January 2000, have been placed in the Library.

Silzone Heart Valves

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the risk of complications to recipients of the St. Jude Silzone heart valve.

Rosie Winterton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) evaluated reports of an apparently high rate of complications among patients implanted with Silzone heart valves. Consequently, the MHRA commissioned an independent assessment of these findings by the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, which confirmed the validity and statistical significance of these adverse event reports. In addition, the Department further commissioned a report on the biocompatibility of the Silzone heart valves by a leading United Kingdom professor of toxicology. The evaluation of these reports helped the MHRA in the decision to notify cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists in November 1999 and January 2000 regarding risks associated with the Silzone heart valves.
	The MHRA has continued to monitor the Silzone heart valves through review of publications from the AVERT study. This is a clinical study of these valves, involving some 800 overseas patients, sponsored by the manufacturer, St. Jude Medical. The three publications to date have confirmed the MHRA's conclusions regarding the risk of complications for the Silzone heart valve.

Student Childcare Helpline

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the student childcare helpline does not indicate how much childcare assistance an individual is likely to receive until they have been accepted onto a course for nurse training.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 25 October 2004
	The national health service student childcare helpline was set up following the announcement made in May 2004 by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health (Mr. Hutton), to introduce an allowance to help students with their childcare costs during training. The purpose of the helpline is to provide prospective NHS professionals with easy access to general information about this new provision under the NHS bursary scheme. As the childcare allowance payable to NHS-funded students is means-tested, it is not possible for the helpline to identify or advise on the actual level of financial support in individual cases. An accurate assessment can be provided only by the NHS Pensions Agency student grants unit on receipt of a fully completed application form from the student, which contains all the necessary supporting information and documentation.

Waiting Times

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times for operations in Nottingham were (a) in 1997 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is shown in the table.
	
		Total number of patients waiting for elective in-patient admission
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997  
			 Under 3 months 6,329 
			 3–5 months 3,478 
			 6–8 months 2,296 
			 9–11 months 1,377 
			 12–14 months 1,008 
			 15–17 months 486 
			 Over 18 months 0 
			 Total 14,974 
			   
			 2004  
			 Under 1 month 2,474 
			 1–2 months 1,744 
			 2–3 months 1,269 
			 3–4 months 793 
			 4–5 months 528 
			 5–6 months 419 
			 6–7 months 211 
			 7–8 months 121 
			 8–9 months 23 
			 Over 9 months 0 
			 Total 7,582

Wilf Ward Family Trust

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1965W, on disabled people, what funding the Department has provided indirectly to the Wilf Ward family trust.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government do not allocate particular amounts to councils to spend on the care of disabled people. It is for each council to decide how much of its general funding allocation to spend for this purpose. Councils do this in the light of local needs and priorities. This includes funding made available to voluntary organisations.
	If the Wilf Ward Family Trust was funded via a supporting people grant, that would be a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Local Government and the Regions (Mr. Raynsford).

NORTHERN IRELAND

Abortions

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where each termination in the Province in each of the last five years was performed; and what maternal illness was responsible in each case.

Angela Smith: Information is not available centrally on the maternal illness that was responsible for each termination and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Abortions

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many terminations in females from Northern Ireland aged 16 years or younger there were in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: While the information required is available, the numbers involved are small and as a result individual patients could potentially be identified. For this reason it is felt that the disclosure of information on the number of terminations performed on females aged 16 years or younger is not appropriate.

Beef Exports

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to secure the lifting of restrictions on the export of beef from Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: In Northern Ireland beef exports under the revised Date Based Export Scheme (DBES) have been possible from 30 September 2003. Currently two Northern Ireland companies export beef under DBES to various EU countries.
	In the light of the recent positive opinion from the European Food Safety Authority on the UK case for moderate risk status we will continue to work with the EU Commission to ensure that restrictions on UK beef exports are lifted as quickly as possible.
	In the meantime, my officials are working with industry stakeholders to explore the possibility of improving the operation of the Date Based Export Scheme. This is to examine ways to make DBES more financially viable for processors and therefore encourage further beef exports. If that can be achieved, it would be a welcome step in the right direction and would add value to beef, which should in turn feed back to producers.

Cancer Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was provided for cancer care in the Province in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: It is not possible to identify separately the amount spent on cancer care in each of the last 10 years. In total, approximately £73 million of capital funding was allocated for the period 1996–97 to 2004–05. Much of this funding is allocated to the construction of the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre (due to be completed at the beginning of 2006).
	The Department has also provided significant additional revenue funding to boards for cancer services in the nine years from 1996–97 to 2004–05. In total the Department has allocated approximately £28 million recurrent and £1.3 million non-recurrent additional funding during this period. Boards may also have added to these resources.
	We estimate that the total acute hospital expenditure on cancer services was some £62 million in the financial year 2002–03 and this figure is expected to increase in future years.

Child Poverty

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of children in Northern Ireland lived in poverty in (a) 1990, (b) 1995, (c) 2000 and (d) each year since 2000.

John Spellar: The information sought by the hon. Lady is not available in the form requested, however the following details of child poverty in Northern Ireland are provided:
	The Family Resources Survey has recently been extended to Northern Ireland. This contains information on the proportion of children (persons under 16 or 16–18 years old on a course up to c A' level standard) living in households below the 60 per cent. GB median household income level (after housing costs). The 2002–03 figure indicates that 26 per cent. of children are living in such households, with a weekly income below £172, in Northern Ireland.
	Research published by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the report 'Low Income Households in Northern Ireland' (2003), contains figures on the number of children living in low income households for the periods 1990–1994, 1997–1999 and 2000–2002. The Northern Ireland Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey (2003) also contains information on the proportion of children in 'consensual' poverty. I will ensure that copies of these reports are made available in the House of Commons Library.

Child Support

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of child support cases in Northern Ireland were being assessed under the new criteria as of 1 October.

John Spellar: The percentage of child support cases in Northern Ireland being assessed under the new rules as of 1 October 2004 is 15 per cent.

Communicable Diseases

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the (a) size and (b) resources available to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) (NI).

Angela Smith: The Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) (NI) which is located at the Belfast City Hospital is staffed by two regional epidemiologists, a part-time consultant microbiologist, one epidemiology training fellow, two scientists and five administrative/clerical workers. CDSC is funded and directed by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety although the staff are employed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA). The funding available to HPA/CDSC in the financial year ending 31 March 2005 is £580,000. Expenditure in the year 2003–4 was £375,000.

Crime Statistics

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what convictions there have been over the last six months for serious crime involving members of the (a) UDA, (b) UVF, (c) LVF, (d) PIRA, (e) RIRA and (f) CIRA.

Ian Pearson: During the first six months of 2004, a total of 51 persons have been proceeded against for scheduled offences in Northern Ireland. Of these, 37 were convicted on some or all counts. Information on specific attribution of defendants in scheduled cases is not recorded.

Diabetes

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the members of the Diabetes Service Framework Implementation Team indicating their positions; how many times the Team has met since its formation; and what progress has been made in the implementation of a diabetes framework as a result.

Angela Smith: The Regional Diabetes Steering Group which the Department established to oversee the work of the local implementation teams set up by each of the Health and Social Services Boards and to manage the overall implementation of the recommendations made by the CREST Taskforce has met on three occasions. Each of the four Health and Social Services Boards have now produced local development plans detailing how the additional resources of lm allocated by the Department in 2004–05 for the development of services for people with diabetes will be deployed and identifying local priorities for development. The Steering Group has considered the development plans produced by the local implementation teams and will continue to work with them to ensure that, as additional resources are secured, developments are taken forward on a prioritised basis.
	The membership of the Regional Steering Group is as follows:
	Director of Primary Care (DHSS&PS)
	Two Senior Medical Officers (DHSS&PS)
	A Consultant in Public Health Medicine from each of the four HSS Boards
	A representative from Diabetes UK (NI)

District Policing Partnerships

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects Northern Ireland district policing partnerships to have their budgets confirmed for the current financial year ; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: I am advised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board that following detailed discussions with District Policing Partnerships, letters of offer seeking confirmation of DPP budgets, will have been issued to all relevant Councils by the end of this week. Verbal agreement has already been reached in 19 cases.

Educational Under-achievement

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to tackle educational disadvantage in (a) north Belfast and (b) greater Shankill.

Barry Gardiner: Under the Department's School Improvement Programme, which is concerned with tackling low achievement, some £3.1 million has been made available in the last two years to support schools serving north Belfast and greater Shankill. Also, the Intensive Support Programme for Interface Schools is making available a total of some £2.3 million over the three financial years from 2004–05. The new Education Action Zones will also complement existing programmes in such areas. In addition, a revised bid is being prepared to obtain funding from the Integrated Development Fund to tackle educational underachievement in the west Belfast and greater Shankill areas.
	The Department for Employment and Learning also supports a number of initiatives aimed at tackling educational disadvantage in the North Belfast and greater Shankill including:
	the Springvale Community Outreach Initiative, which aims to improve educational standards, promote social, cultural and economic regeneration in these areas;
	the Essential Skills for Living Strategy, which provides adults in all areas of Northern Ireland with the opportunity to improve their literacy and numeracy skills, to enable them to function and progress in society;
	Special Project Funding, which allows the universities to develop partnerships with schools with traditionally low levels of participation in HE. This work includes the 'Step-Up' programme, which may be expanded to include north and west Belfast.
	Additionally, the Belfast Institute, east Antrim Institute and the Workers' Educational Association, as the main statutory and non statutory education and training providers for north Belfast and greater Shankill, offer a wide range of provision aimed at tackling educational disadvantage, including Essential Skills provision.

Educational Under-achievement

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial support he is giving to support parents in Northern Ireland to access educational opportunities for (a) themselves and (b) their children.

Barry Gardiner: The Government make available to parents and students a wide support package which is designed to help provide assistance to those whose access to education may be inhibited by financial constraints. The support in the main consists of allowances, bursaries, loans and grants. These are supplemented, in particular circumstances, by support for free school meals, home to school transport and provision of clothing allowance.

Evacuated Dwellings

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many properties purchased under the scheme to purchase evacuated dwellings are on the market; how many properties have been on the market for (a) less than six months, (b) between six and 12 months, (c) between 12 and 18 months and (d) over 18 months; and what the total market value of these properties is.

John Spellar: There are a total of 62 houses bought under the Scheme to Purchase Evacuated Dwellings on the open market and these are valued at £6,638,250. Of that total the breakdown requested is as follows:
	
		
			 Period Number Value (£) 
		
		
			 Less than 6 months 19 2,498,750 
			 6 to 12 months 12 1,502,000 
			 12 to 18 months 10 1,446,500 
			 More than 18 months 21 1,191,000

Farm Payments

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many in each category of farm payments due to be paid by 30 June remain outstanding; and what the value is of outstanding payments.

Ian Pearson: The number and potential value, if paid in full, of farm subsidy claims currently outstanding is as follows:
	
		
			  Applications unpaid Value (£ million) 
		
		
			 Beef Special Premium 2,740 l 
			 Slaughter Premium 1,178 0.6 
			 Suckler Cow Premium 301 0.3 
			 Extensification  Payment 1,447 2.8 
		
	
	These applications relate to unresolved cases where there is a query or penalty to be applied. It is not expected, therefore, that all claims will be paid in full.

Fireworks

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to combat antisocial behaviour associated with the use of fireworks in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The law in relation to the possession, sale and use of fireworks in Northern Ireland is clear. Appropriate action is taken by the police against anyone breaking the law and I am aware of at least one arrest recently where a young person was found to be in illegal possession of fireworks in a public place. I will continue to keep the law in relation to the use of fireworks under review.

Funding (Small Businesses)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many small businesses received start-up funding in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997; and how many of these businesses were still operating as of 1 September.

Barry Gardiner: During the period 1997–98 to 2003–04, 1,097 businesses were offered start-up assistance through schemes directly provided by Invest NI, and prior to April 2002, by the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU). Of these businesses, 788 (72 per cent.) were still trading at September 2004.
	In addition to these, 10,216 new businesses have been provided with assistance through the Northern Ireland Start a Business Programme. Prior to 2003, this was referred to as the Business Start Programme. Monitoring information available from September 2001 indicates that 84 per cent. of those businesses were still operating at September 2004.

GP Prescribing

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of prescribing by each general practitioner surgery in the Province has been in the last year.

Angela Smith: The cost of drugs prescribed per general practice surgery is not held centrally as a number of prescriptions are never presented for dispensing.
	However, the cost of drugs dispensed by pharmacists against health service prescriptions received per general practice surgery is available and the information for the latest available financial year (2003–04) has been placed in the House Library.

Health Service

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reason there was no capital allocation for IT equipment acquisitions for general practitioner practices in the current financial year.

Angela Smith: With the implementation of the new General Medical Services contract with effect from 1 April 2004, Health and Social Services Boards are responsible for funding the purchase of IT systems in general practices. While no formal capital allocations for this purpose have as yet been made to Health and Social Service Boards in the current financial year, such resources will be allocated when boards have finalised their expenditure plans in this regard.

Illegal Fuel Imports

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the amount of (a) gasoline and (b) diesel fuel illegally imported into Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what estimate the Government have made of the amount of (a) gasoline and (b) diesel fuel that is being illegally laundered in Northern Ireland; and what the figures were for the illegal importation and laundering of (i) gasoline and (ii) diesel fuel in Northern Ireland over the last five years.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer from my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 388W.

Illegal Fuel Imports

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which paramilitary organisations are (a) known to be and (b) suspected by the Government of being involved in the illegal importation of gasoline and diesel fuel into Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: There is no doubt that a range of individuals, including those with paramilitary links are involved in smuggling and laundering of fuel in Northern Ireland.
	The Organised Crime Task Force Threat Assessment, which was launched on 11 May, clearly indicated the involvement of paramilitary groups in organised crime in Northern Ireland. The IMC's first report, published on 20 April also provided a clear assessment of the criminal activities of all paramilitary groups.

Illegal Fuel Imports

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the revenues earned by individual paramilitary organisations from the illegal importation and laundering of (a) gasoline and (b) diesel fuel in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: There is no doubt that paramilitary organisations are involved in the smuggling and laundering of fuel in Northern Ireland. It is impossible to estimate, however, with any precision the amount of revenue earned through this activity. Neither is it clear what proportion of the profits are retained by paramilitary organisations and what individuals retain to line their own pockets.

Lewis Report

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken in response to the Lewis Report in the case of David and Samuel Briggs, in relation to (a) multi-disciplinary working, (b) access to supervision for health and social care staff and (c) workforce planning policies for health visiting staff.

Angela Smith: Craigavon and Banbridge HSS Trust has complied with the review's recommendation that it review its guidance to staff in respect of multi-professional working.
	With regard to inter country adoption, the Department's 2003 inter country adoption guidance outlines specific expectations in respect of multi-disciplinary working in this area and multi-professional, regional training has been provided in relation to implementation. A recent inspection of the intercountry adoption service in the trust carried out by the Department's Social Services Inspectorate has confirmed that the Southern Area Adoption Consortium is currently implementing the guidance in each of the Southern Board's trust areas.
	Craigavon and Banbridge Trust has responded to the review's recommendation that it review its supervision policy by ensuring that within health visiting and social services, there are arrangements for first line managers to raise issues of concern with senior managers. The Trust has reviewed its supervision policy for health visitors and supervision is provided through bi-monthly supervision sessions with team leaders as well as monthly structured peer supervision. Supervision is more frequent for newly qualified and newly appointed nurses.
	The Southern HSS Board meets at least quarterly with the three community trust directors of Social Services regarding workforce issues in child care social work.
	The Department has in place a comprehensive workforce planning mechanism, which involves a cycle of reviews of the workforce across the main HPSS professional groups. As part of this mechanism, the Department is taking forward its second major review of the nursing, midwifery and health visiting workforce. The Steering Group for this review first met on 15 September and the review is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Lower Newmills Road Fire

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what involvement there was of health and safety officials in assessing the aftermath of the fire at Lower Newmills Road in Coleraine on 15 October.

Barry Gardiner: Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) visited the site of the fire at W. D. Meats Ltd., Lower Newmills Road, Coleraine on 18 October 2004. The purpose of the inspection was to ensure that appropriate health and safety controls were in place so that no one was put at risk during salvage operations.

Missed Appointments

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many missed hospital appointments there were in the Province in each of the last five years; and what the estimated resultant costs were in each year.

Angela Smith: The total number of missed hospital appointments in each financial year 1999–2000 to 2003–04 is provided in the following table. These figures represent the number of out-patient appointments where a patient did not attend and failed to give advanced warning to the hospital.
	
		
			  Total number of missed hospital appointments 
		
		
			 1999–2000 216,643 
			 2000–01 216,378 
			 2001–02 211,813 
			 2002–03 203,970 
			 2003–04 204,809 
		
	
	Note:
	Data for 2003–04 are provisional and may be subject to change
	Source:
	KH09
	The average cost of an out-patient attendance across all Programmes of Care was £133 in the year ended March 2003. If the cost of missed hospital appointments were estimated at the full price per attendance then the cost of missed hospital appointments for that year would be £27 million. However, the real cost is likely to be much less since much of the cost is associated with actual attendance and will not be incurred when the appointment is missed. More precise information is not available.

MLA Salaries

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what review has taken place of the salaries and staff allowances paid to Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly; and whether he plans to reduce the salaries and staff allowances due to suspension of the Assembly.

Paul Murphy: I keep the salaries and allowances of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly under regular review and will continue to do so in the light of current political developments.

New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years.

Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W.

Pain

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost of medically-related benefits in the Province in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how much of that resulted from chronic pain.

John Spellar: The cost of medically-related Social Security Benefits for the 12 months up to June 2004 is shown as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Disability living allowance 524 
			 Incapacity benefit 321 
			 Severe disablement allowance 42 
			 Industrial injuries benefit 32 
			 Attendance allowance (12 months up to March 2004) 174 
		
	
	A breakdown of how much resulted from chronic pain is not available.

Pain

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pain sufferers in the Province are diagnosed with depression.

Angela Smith: This information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Pain

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of individuals in the Province who lost jobs on account of suffering pain in each of the last five years.

Barry Gardiner: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment does not hold information on the number of individuals who lost jobs on account of suffering pain. However, latest figures from the summer 2004 Labour Force Survey estimate that there are 44,000 persons who are currently of working age that have left their last job for health reasons in the preceding eight years.

Paramilitary Terrorism

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his assessment is of the present terrorist threat from (a) the PIRA, (b) Continuity IRA, (c) the Real IRA, (d) the INLA, (e) the UVF and (f) the UDA.

Ian Pearson: The Government's view is that the ceasefire of the PIRA remains in place and there is no indication that it is actively considering a return to violence. Dissident Republicans continue to carry out attacks on security forces and the intimidation of members of District Policing Partnerships, but much of their activity has been nullified by good policing and intelligence led operations. The INLA's paramilitary activity is confined principally to 'civil administration'. Factionalised feuding within Loyalism has continued over recent months. The IMC will report shortly on the activities of all paramilitary organisations.

Pedestrian Deaths (Children)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many child pedestrian deaths there were in the Province in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Pearson: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number of Child Pedestrian Deaths 
		
		
			 1994 16 
			 1995 9 
			 1996 9 
			 1997 6 
			 1998 12 
			 1999 10 
			 2000 8 
			 2001 3 
			 2002 4 
			 2003 7 
			 Total: 84

Pharmacies

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he last reviewed the regulations for setting up pharmacies in Northern Ireland; and what the result was of that review.

Angela Smith: The regulations for setting up pharmacies in Northern Ireland were last reviewed in January 2003 in response to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Report on the control of entry regulations and retail pharmacy services in the United Kingdom. The then Minister, the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudon announced on 26 March 2003 that he would not be accepting the OFT report for Northern Ireland, and the Secretary of State fully endorsed that decision. The Minister stated that simple and complete deregulation was not a realistic option and therefore not the way forward for Northern Ireland. He also made clear that Northern Ireland community pharmacy services would be developed within the context of a Community Pharmacy Strategy and a new pharmacy contract, which is currently under negotiation, and would include consideration of how the existing regulatory arrangements could be improved to take account of changing health policies.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many (a) Protestants, (b) Roman Catholics and (c) others have applied for posts and been assessed as being suitably qualified with the Police in Northern Ireland since the 50/50 recruitment rule was introduced;
	(2)  how many (a) Protestants, (b) Roman Catholics and (c) others have been successful in their applications to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland since the introduction of the 50/50 recruitment rule;
	(3)  how many (a) Protestants, (b) Roman Catholics and (c) others have been unsuccessful in their applications to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland despite being assessed as suitably qualified since the introduction of the 50/50 recruitment rule.

Ian Pearson: There have been six competitions for the post of PSNI Trainee Constable, in which the pool of suitably qualified candidates has been finalised. Appointments are still being made from these pools for competitions four, five and six. As a result the numbers contained in the table are continually changing.
	For the purpose of PSNI recruitment, a candidate's community background is categorised as either non-Roman Catholic or Roman Catholic.
	I am advised that the breakdown of candidates according to these categories, for the first six competitions as requested, is as follows:
	
		
			  Non-Roman Catholic Roman Catholic 
		
		
			 Assessed as being suitably qualified 3,253 1,089 
			 Successful in their applications 747 716 
			 Unsuccessful despite being assessed as suitably qualified 1,944 92 
		
	
	In common with many organisations recruiting staff, PSNI has a finite number of posts that can be filled. Encouragingly, they continue to have a very high number of applications for each competition. In the latest competitions this has produced a surplus of suitably qualified candidates from both the Roman Catholic and non-Roman Catholic community background.
	The majority of candidates that have failed to be appointed from the pool did so because of their assessment score rather than their community background; that is to say if 50/50 had not applied then those candidates would still have failed to be appointed.
	We remain sympathetic to those candidates who have been directly discriminated against because of their community background. We are satisfied, however, that the temporary policy of equal recruitment has brought about a positive change and is justified as a means of rectifying an acute historical imbalance in the composition of the police service.

Prisons (Substance Abuse)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the prevalence of (a) drug and (b) alcohol abuse in Northern Ireland's prisons.

Ian Pearson: The drugs culture in prisons mirrors that in the community. Drugs misuse in prison involves cannabis, steroids and prescription drugs. There is a small amount of hard drug abuse but no evidence of a needle culture involving hard drugs. The Northern Ireland Prison Service operates a drug and alcohol strategy which addresses supply reduction, care and support for those with drug related problems, education, rehabilitation and throughcare. An extensive monthly monitoring system is operated in all establishments. Additional to this, detailed assessments are carried out by external independent consultants. The evaluation reports produced provide a clear insight into the nature and scope of drugs and alcohol misuse in each establishment and a solid foundation for influencing any changes necessary to strengthen the drugs and alcohol policy.
	Although a significant percentage of prisoners have a dependency problem on committal to prison, illegal alcohol is not a problem for the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

Refrigerator Disposal

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what facilities are available in Northern Ireland for the disposal of refrigerators; and how many refrigerators were disposed of in Northern Ireland in each year since 2000.

Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the Republic of Ireland facilitated an exercise which led to all Councils in Northern Ireland, and 33 of the 34 Councils in the Republic of Ireland, contracting with M Baker Recycling Limited for the management of waste domestic fridges and freezers. The refrigeration equipment is collected and transported to M Baker's facility in England to be demanufactured. The contract will run until August 2005, at which point responsibility for disposal transfers to the manufacturers. There are no facilities available in Northern Ireland that can dispose of whole refrigerators containing hazardous components including ozone depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochloroflurocarbons and hydrochlorocarbons. However there is now one facility in Northern Ireland that is being commissioned to demanufacture refrigeration equipment.
	Prior to the introduction of the Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations on the 1 January 2002, fridges could be disposed of to landfill. My Department is not aware of any refrigerators being disposed of in Northern Ireland since 2001.
	My Department does not hold statistical information for the number of refrigerators disposed of in Northern Ireland for the years 2000 and 2001, nor comprehensive and readily accessible statistical information on the number of refrigerators transported to GB or elsewhere in Europe for disposal since 2001.

Regional Development Strategy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how the Planning Appeals Commission has been guided by the Regional Development Strategy when considering planning appeals; how often the PAC has referred to the strategy in its decision making; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: As the Planning Appeals Commission is a tribunal Non-Departmantal Public Body, I have asked the Chief Commissioner to write to the hon. Lady directly in connection with the information requested.

School Crossing Patrol Officers

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many school crossing patrol officers there were in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; what steps he is taking to increase the number of officers; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The number of school crossing patrol officers is as follows.
	
		
			  BELB NEELB SEELB SELB WELB Total 
		
		
			 2000–01 126 152 167 236 198 879 
			 2001–02 123 161 161 230 196 871 
			 2002–03 121 173 161 234 198 887 
			 2003–04 131 187 161 231 198 908 
			 2004–05 135 180 159 220 198 892 
		
	
	Education and library boards have experienced difficulty in recruiting crossing patrol officers. This is despite strenuous recruiting measures such as advertising in the press, poster campaigns in schools, libraries etc., recruitment seminars and radio advertising. Consideration was given to combining crossing patrol duties with those of school caretakers, classroom assistants etc. but it was concluded that this was impractical. As caretakers, in particular, are busy with a wide range of duties school principals are generally reluctant to release them for other duties.
	Boards are currently seeking advice from the Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association (LARSOA) regarding the recruitment of crossing patrol personnel. LARSOA frequently advises local education authorities in England on procedures and recruitment arrangements for crossing patrol officers. This association may be able to advise boards on options for reducing the number of outstanding crossing patrol vacancies in Northern Ireland.

School Selection

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what factors underlie the Government's policy not to allow parents a ballot before ending academic selection at grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

Barry Gardiner: Legislation in England to enable a ballot of parents in relation to proposals to end academic selection at individual schools does not apply in Northern Ireland. Following detailed review, Government have decided to end academic selection in Northern Ireland. Grammar schools will remain and will continue to offer an academic style of education for those pupils whose parents consider it to best meet the educational needs of their child. School managing authorities will consult with parents when new arrangements are being developed at local level.

Security Vetting (Stormont)

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people with criminal records have been granted security passes to Parliament Building at Stormont since the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Paul Murphy: Since the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly, security passes for Parliament Buildings have been issued to a wide group including Members, their partners and staff, Party support staff, press, VIPs, contractors and Assembly Secretariat staff. Criminal record checks are confined to Assembly staff and contractors. However, the results of those individual checks are not centrally collated.

Security Vetting (Stormont)

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes have been made to the security vetting procedures at Stormont since the last suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly; and whether security measures in Northern Ireland have been brought into line with the new security arrangements at the Palace of Westminster.

Paul Murphy: Security vetting procedures at Stormont remain unchanged since the Northern Ireland Assembly last met in October 2002.
	Security arrangements at Parliament buildings are kept under constant review. Following recent incidents in the House of Commons chamber, Assembly officials have been liaising with colleagues at Westminster and the other devolved institutions regarding appropriate security measures and a number of additional provisions are under consideration.

Smoking (Public Places)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment has been made of the merits of introducing legislation to ban smoking in public places in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Tobacco Action Plan, published in June 2003, addresses a range of tobacco control measures, including protecting the public from tobacco smoke. Northern Ireland has contributed to the wider UK debate on smoking in public places through the plan, which included a commitment to assess public attitudes towards smoking prohibitions/restrictions.
	A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety found that support for smoke-free provision in specific settings ranged from 82 per cent. in hospitals and 53 per cent. in cafes and restaurants, to 34 per cent. in pubs and bars.
	The Government are currently assessing the views of a wide range of interests on this subject and will publish their conclusions in a forthcoming White Paper on Public Health.

Soccer Facilities

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the finance to improve soccer facilities will be released.

Angela Smith: The Sports Council has to date released £2.406 million, under its Interim Safe Sports Grounds Scheme, to help improve Soccer facilities in Northern Ireland. It has also provided £1.243 million over the last three years to assist the Irish Football Association (IFA) with the promotion of youth soccer in Northern Ireland. Further Government moneys to help improve soccer facilities and promotion will be released when I am satisfied that all the necessary accountability and value for money safeguards are in place to protect public finances.

Speed Cameras

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) mobile and (b) fixed speed cameras in reducing speeding on Northern Ireland's roads.

Ian Pearson: The Safety Camera Scheme, which includes fixed site and mobile safety cameras, came into operation on 1 July 2003. At the end of the first year, deaths and serious injuries had fallen by 27 per cent. at locations where safety cameras were used.

Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of Northern Ireland patients who have been advised that they will have NHS-funded surgery in the private sector this year, but have not as yet received treatment.

Angela Smith: 2650 patients have been offered the opportunity to have surgery privately funded through the HPSS this financial year. Of those who have accepted the offer, 676 have not received treatment to date but are due to have surgery by 31 March 2005.

Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many long-waiters from the Province have had surgery privately funded through the NHS since 1 January; and how many more are expected to receive surgery before the end of the year.

Angela Smith: Since January 2004, the HPSS has funded 1,344 long waiters in Northern Ireland to have their surgery carried out by private sector providers. In addition, a further 1,147 patients are expected to receive surgery before 31 March 2005.

Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been spent on providing surgery for patients from Northern Ireland within the private sector.

Angela Smith: £6.9 million of public funding was spent on providing surgery for patients from Northern Ireland within the private sector during 2003–04. From April-September 2004, £2.6 million has been spent.

Triads

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment the Government have made of the level of Triad activity in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Police Service of Northern Ireland is aware of the presence of a Triad group in Northern Ireland and that it is involved in organised crime.
	The Organised Crime Task Force is creating an Organised Immigration Crime Expert Group to assist and advise on how organised immigration crime might be tackled.

Tuberculosis

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on tuberculosis prevention in the Province.

Angela Smith: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Northern Ireland is low with 67 cases in 2002 and a crude rate of 3.9 per 100,000 population. Rates are over three times greater in England and Wales, and the Republic of Ireland.
	The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's Regional Advisory Committee on Communicable Disease Control has a TB subcommittee which keeps prevention and surveillance issues constantly under review.
	The Chief Medical Officer issued a letter to the health service on 30 April 2002 endorsing and enclosing the updated clinical guidelines on control and prevention of TB of the British Thoracic Society's joint tuberculosis committee. They highlight the importance of early treatment and contact tracing and provide extended advice on TB in schools. The BCG programme continues to be offered to all school children from age ten to 14.

Violent Patients

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how resources are to be provided for dealing with violent patients following the implementation of the new general practitioner contract in the Province.

Angela Smith: To facilitate implementation of the new general practitioners contract, resources have been allocated to the Health and Social Services Boards to fund the commissioning of a range of services, including services for patients who are violent.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Children's Centres

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Government are investing on average in each of the current round of children's centres.

Margaret Hodge: We have already announced 71 children's centres and will shortly be announcing more. There will be up to 2,500 by March 2008, which will include one for each of the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged areas. We are working up plans to provide a children's centre in every community.

Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in Coventry went on to higher education in 2004–05.

Kim Howells: Latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that 1,685 students from Coventry LEA have so far been accepted to entry for full-time undergraduate courses in 2004/05. Final figures for 2004/05 will be published by UCAS in late January.

Higher Education

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on access to higher education.

Kim Howells: The Government are determined to improve opportunities for people of all backgrounds. The Aimhigher programme helps young people in disadvantaged areas to gain the qualifications and aspire to university. Our reforms to student finance will broaden access and help poorer students. And the Office for Fair Access will ensure that universities charging higher fees encourage applications from all backgrounds through their plans for outreach and financial support. Admissions, however, are a matter for universities and must be based on merit.

A-Levels

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will extend targeted support to those learners wishing to attain the equivalent of two good A-levels.

Ivan Lewis: From September 2004 Education Maintenance Allowance became available to young people who had reached the compulsory school leaving age and were entering full time education in 2004/05. EMA is available for both academic and vocational courses up to level 3.
	Our advanced apprenticeship programmes for young people offers training to technician and skilled craft level. And as resources allow, we have committed to expanding training programmes for adults as well at that intermediate level, particularly in those areas that employers tell us are their priorities by region and by sector. To support younger adults up to age 30 to get these higher level qualifications, we are piloting financial support of up to £30 a week through a new Adult Learning Grant. The new grant has been piloted since September 2003 in over 80 further education providers across 10 Learning and Skills Council areas. From September 2004 Adult Learning Grant has been extended right across the North East and South East regions alongside trials of the new entitlement to free tuition to reach a first level 2 qualification.

Child Care

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost of providing a child care place is in (a) London and (b) England.

Margaret Hodge: This information is not routinely collected centrally. The General Sure Start Grant distributed to local authorities includes funding to provide for new childcare places. Local authorities currently receive £642 for each newly created place in a disadvantaged area and £342 for places created in other areas. This is an average revenue cost and covers places created with childminders, in Out of School settings and in full day care setting. This is based on the average estimated costs for all types of provision nationally.

Child Care

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of qualified child care workers in (a) London and (b) England.

Margaret Hodge: For 2004–06, we have given £129.9 million to local authorities in England to help them recruit, train and develop their early years and child care workforce. We have also worked closely with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) nationally to raise the profile of the child care sector, so that all local LSCs and local authorities now have shared targets for training child care workers to levels 2 and 3. We also support this local activity with our national child care recruitment campaign that has been running since 2000 and has generated over 25,000 responses to our national campaign order line. The new National Professional Qualification for Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL), launched September 2004, aims to foster the highest calibre of leadership in children's services. As well as raising standards within the early years profession, the NPQICL aims to raise professional status in the sector and attract more good people into the profession.

Child Care

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the average salary of child care workers in (a) London and (b) England.

Margaret Hodge: The 2002/03 Childcare and Early Years Workforce survey shows an average salary of around £7,500 a year for annually paid childcare workers in London. This is based on an average working week of 25 hours. The survey shows an average salary of around £5,100 a year for annually paid staff in England, based on an average working week of 26 hours.
	In England hourly paid staff earn on average, a little over £5.70 per hour. Grossing up based on the average hours per week worked (26), this equates to a little over £7,600 p.a. In London hourly paid staff earn on average, around £7.10 per hour. Grossing up based on the average hours per week work (25), this equates to a little over £9,300 p.a.

Child Care

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the ratio of child care places to children of pre-school age is in (a) London and (b) England.

Margaret Hodge: The available information is shown in the table. Statistics on the number of child care places registered in England were published on 22 July 2004 in a report by Ofsted "Registered Childcare Providers and Places in England, 30 June 2004". The report is available on the Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications.
	
		Number(8) of registered child care places(9) and children(10) aged under five years of age and under eight London Government Office Region and England
		
			  London England 
		
		
			 Childminders 41,000 322,100 
			 Full day care 69,300 483,600 
			 Sessional day care 28,800 270,600 
			 Out of school day care 49,600 332,400 
			 Creche day care 5,700 40,000 
			 All child care places 194,300 1,448,600 
			 Children aged under five years old 476,000 2,848,200 
			 Children aged under eight years old 748,200 4,667,100 
		
	
	(8) Rounded to the nearest 100
	(9) Position as at 30 June 2004
	(10) Position at mid-year 2003

Consultants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many consultancy firms or companies have been retained by the Department since June 2001; what the projects are for which each has been retained; and what the total is of the fees paid or incurred in each case.

Stephen Twigg: This information could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Fostering

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Department is taking to encourage more people into fostering.

Margaret Hodge: The Choice Protects grant, which provides funding of £113 million over three years, has a specific emphasis on improving fostering services. £1.5 million of the funding available through the grant in the current financial year is being used to develop a number of suggestions from the Green Paper, "Every Child Matters", to improve the status support and training for foster carers. These include the development of a national award, a national advice line and measures to improve the support given to foster carers who are subject to allegations.
	In February this year we produced a Fostering Publicity Pack designed to help local authorities to run targeted local campaigns to recruit new foster carers for looked after children. We have also awarded a three-year grant of £180,000 to the Fostering Network to support Foster Care Fortnight, which has a particular focus on recruitment.

School Transport

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost (a) in total and (b) per child of school transport on the Isle of Wight was in each of the last five years; and what the figures are for other authorities in the Audit Commission's relevant family of local education authorities.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 19 October 2004
	The total cost of home to school transport in the Isle of Wight and other local education authorities (LEAs) in the Audit Commission's relevant family of LEAs for each of the last five years is shown in the following tables. Data on the number of pupils using home to school transport are not collected, so it is not possible to provide a per child cost for the last five years. However, a joint DfES/Confed survey collected these data for 2002/03 and is also included in the tables.
	
		Cost of home to school transport 1,2 since 1998–99. As reported by LEAs. As at 19 October 2004
		
			   1998–99 1999–2000 
			   Home to school/college transport(12) Home to school/college transport(12) 
			 LEA number LEA name Gross Income Net Gross Income Net 
		
		
			 921 Isle of Wight 1,378,000 65,000 1,313,000 1,433,686 86,416 1,347,270 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 1,650,000 61,000 1,589,000 2,925,093 52,110 2,872,983 
			 816 York 1,362,000 0 1,362,000 1,449,078 15,986 1,433,092 
			 880 Torbay 1,146,000 39,000 1,107,000 1,209,956 28,957 1,180,999 
			 841 Darlington 1,010,000 0 1,010,000 1,031,291 575 1,030,716 
			 381 Calderdale 1,356,000 0 1,356,000 1,574,547 0 1,574,547 
			 887 Medway 3,013,000 0 3,013,000 3,035,200 0 3,035,200 
			 893 Shropshire 5,056,000 0 5,056,000 5,469,215 97,243 5,371,972 
			 884 Herefordshire 3,181,000 87,000 3,094,000 3,989,270 86,541 3,902,729 
			 877 Warrington 2,069,000 4,000 2,065,000 2,258,508 0 2,258,508 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 5,172,000 0 5,172,000 5,397,287 0 5,397,287 
		
	
	
		
			   2000–01 2001–02 
			   Home to school/college Home to school/college 
			 LEA number LEA name Gross Income Net Gross Income Net 
		
		
			 921 Isle of Wight 1,598,868 77,373 1,521,495 1,624,172 75,376 1,548,796 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 2,400,819 54,992 2,345,827 2,124,881 0 2,124,881 
			 816 York 1,572,375 0 1,572,375 1,746,245 0 1,746,245 
			 880 Torbay 1,379,735 50,077 1,329,658 1,465,045 14,800 1,450,245 
			 841 Darlington 1,000,623 1,526 999,097 1,020,137 405 1,019,732 
			 381 Calderdale 1,862,563 0 1,862,563 1,898,695 0 1,898,695 
			 887 Medway 3,007,800 159,200 2,848,600 3,054,500 92,700 2,961,800 
			 893 Shropshire 5,689,211 0 5,689,211 5,979,817 0 5,979,817 
			 884 Herefordshire 4,795,665 0 4,795,665 4,579,671 124,378 4,455,293 
			 877 Warrington 2,229,500 0 2,229,500 2,375,358 0 2,375,358 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 5,818,687 23,186 5,795,501 6,032,387 37,931 5,994,456 
		
	
	
		
			  2002–03 2002–03 
			 LEA LEA name Home to school/college GrossIncomeNet Pupils(13) Net cost per pupil Home to school transport GrossIncomeNet 
		
		
			 921 Isle of Wight 1,936,681 71,926 1,864,755 3,271 570 1,480,344 28,982 1,451,362 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 3,425,537 555,224 2,870,313 5,055 568 3,149,218 526,041 2,623,177 
			 816 York 2,081,595 19,960 2,061,635 2,111 977 2,032,158 19,960 2,012,198 
			 880 Torbay 1,904,087 92,625 1,811,462 — — 1,672,604 52,815 1,619,789 
			 841 Darlington 1,210,908 6,809 1,204,099 1,954 616 1,140,560 5,777 1,134,783 
			 381 Calderdale 1,411,841 2,218 1,409,623 2,149 656 1,411,841 2,218 1,409,623 
			 887 Medway 3,430,655 168,100 3,262,555 3,860 845 3,204,104 103,900 3,100,204 
			 893 Shropshire 7,125,733 0 7,125,733 8,475 841 6,842,843 0 6,842,843 
			 884 Herefordshire 5,518,285 152,143 5,366,142 5,961 900 5,000,591 47,157 4,953,434 
			 877 Warrington 2,604,368 0 2,604,368 3,295 790 1,999,939 0 1,999,939 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 7,894,709 97,708 7,797,001 8,065 967 7,630,381 97,708 7,532,673 
		
	
	'—' Not available
	(11) The gross expenditure and income figures for 1998–99 to 2001–02 are taken from the home to school/college transport and the transport related parental contribution lines of the section 52 Outturn Statement Table 3 (1998–99 figures are from the corresponding lines of the R01 form submitted to the ODPM) respectively. In 2002–03 home to school transport was recorded separately from home to college transport for the first time and consequently both home to school transport and the combined home to school/college transport figures are provided. 2002–03 figures are taken from the respective gross, income and net columns of the section 52 Outturn Statement Table A.
	(12) Total transport income and expenditure includes that incurred in relation to pre-primary, primary, secondary and special school education as well as in education out of school, continuing education and the management and support elements.
	(13) The DfES do not collect data on the number of pupils using home to school transport and as such we are unable to calculate the cost of home to school transport per child . However in 2002–03 the Department conducted a survey with Confed which provided a snapshot of the number of pupils using home to school transport (including sixth form) and these have been used to provide a unit cost for 2002–03.

School Transport

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the impact on schools in the Vale of York of his proposed changes to school transport.

Stephen Twigg: The School Transport Bill will allow up to 20 local education authorities in England to trial new arrangements for school transport. Trial areas cannot be selected until the Bill becomes law, so at this point it is not possible to assess the impact on schools in the Vale of York.

Ministers' Private Offices

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in his Department have been in each year since 1997.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is in the following table. This information includes the total running cost for the Department of Education and Skills and its predecessor, the Department of Education and Employment.
	
		
			 Financial year Running cost (£ million) 
		
		
			 2003–04 2.3 
			 2002–03 2.2 
			 2001–02 2.1 
			 2000–01 2.3 
			 1999–2000 2.0 
			 1998–99 1.9 
			 1997–98 (14)— 
		
	
	(14) Information not held in format requested

Teenage Pregnancy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people have registered with the Teenage Pregnancy Unit website in each year since it was launched.

Margaret Hodge: The Teenage Pregnancy Unit website is an internal DfES website, designed primarily for practitioners working with both young parents and those at risk of teenage pregnancy. There are currently 372 registered users of the website.

Teenage Pregnancy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the 2004 annual report for the Teenage Pregnancy Unit will be published.

Margaret Hodge: The Teenage Pregnancy Unit does not produce an annual report.
	However, the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on teenage pregnancy does produce a report each year, in which it comments on progress on implementing the teenage pregnancy strategy, and makes recommendations for further action. IAG's report for 2003–04 is due to be published in November 2004.

Teenage Pregnancy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much it cost to set up the Teenage Pregnancy Unit website; what the maintenance costs are estimated to be for each year of its operation; and who is responsible for updating the website.

Margaret Hodge: The Teenage Pregnancy Unit website is an internal DfES website, designed primarily for practitioners working with both young parents and those at risk of teenage pregnancy. Maintenance of the website is carried out by members of staff working in the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. It is not possible to calculate how much of their time is involved in its maintenance.

Tsar Appointments

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many tsars have been appointed with responsibilities which cover part of the work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: There have been no tsars appointed to cover any responsibilities of my Department.

University Outreach

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on outreach work by universities in educationally deprived communities.

Kim Howells: Many universities undertake outreach activities with schools and communities in deprived areas. I am pleased to acknowledge these efforts and to support them through the Aimhigher programme, which helps school, university and college partnerships to deliver a range of attainment—and aspiration-raising activities. In addition, the new Office for Fair Access will result in more financial support for students and more outreach work to boost applications from under-represented groups.
	I will write to my hon. Friend to further address the issues he raised at today's oral questions.

DEFENCE

40 Commando

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to supply extra helicopters to transport troops of 40 Commando on operational tasks outside the British controlled zone in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 October 2004
	Helicopters in Iraq are a theatre-wide asset and are not allocated to individual units.

40 Commando

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to provide armoured personnel carriers for the troops of 40 Commando.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 October 2004
	There are no plans to provide armoured personnel carriers for the troops of 40 Commando. However, they are, and will continue to be, afforded all appropriate protection while deployed.

40 Commando

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to deploy 40 Commando to work outside the British controlled zone in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 26 October 2004
	A single mortar platoon from 40 Commando RM will be deployed with the 1st Battalion, The Black Watch to an area south of Baghdad in the next few weeks. In addition, a small number of troops from 40 Commando RM are currently performing force protection duties in Baghdad.

Armed Forces (Dependent Children)

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government pays fees for (a) schooling and (b) board and lodging for children of servicemen and servicewomen serving outside the UK.

Ivor Caplin: Boarding School Allowance (BSA) is paid to contribute towards the cost of boarding and tuition. It is paid to eligible service parents stationed in the UK and overseas. Day School Allowance is paid towards the cost of tuition only and provides the opportunity for children for whom BSA is in issue to become a day pupil at the same school and to live at home when family circumstances permit.
	The Ministry of Defence via HQ Service Children's Education, also provides free education in service schools for the children of service personnel who accompany their service parents to some overseas countries. In those countries where free service schools are not provided, service parents use local schools, which may be free of charge, or independent fee paying schools. In the latter case, necessarily incurred school fees may be reimbursed within MOD set limits.

Canadian Submarines

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with the Canadian Government on the four submarines sold to the Canadians by the Royal Navy Service.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 25 October 2004
	Ministry of Defence officials have been in discussion with the Canadian Government regarding the Upholder class submarines for several years. Discussions have been wide-ranging and led to an agreement in 1998 that the United Kingdom would lease the submarines to Canada, with an option to purchase. Subsequent discussions focused on the reactivation and transfer of the submarines to Canada, and included main contract reviews at three-monthly intervals, regular exchanges of technical information, and day-to-day contact with Canadian personnel based at BAE Systems, Barrow-in-Furness, where the reactivation programme was undertaken.

Clothing Specifications

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what specifications were included in the contract for clothing given to Cooneen, Watts & Store to ensure that the clothing was manufactured in the UK.

Adam Ingram: No specifications were included to ensure clothing was manufactured in the UK as EU Public Procurement Regulations prohibit consideration on grounds of national interest.

EU Battlegroups

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who will have final command of the EU Battlegroups initiative.

Geoff Hoon: Policy decisions on the EU Battlegroups initiative will be taken by unanimity of all the member states.
	Decisions to deploy national forces are for national governments to take. Any decision to commit the United Kingdom forces to an EU Battlegroup operational deployment would be taken by the Government on a case-by-case basis.
	Battlegroups will be offered either by single nations or by small multinational groupings. The military command of any operational deployment of an EU Battlegroup will be determined on a case-by-case basis and will reflect which of the Battlegroups is being deployed. We would expect Battlegroups involving UK forces to be commanded from the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood.
	As with all EU operations, the political control of an EU Battlegroup mission would rest with the 25 member states, acting by unanimity through the Political and Security Committee and Council.

EU Defence

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to paragraphs 50 and 51 of the document Update on Prospects for the European Union in 2004, (Cm 6310), what documentation has been published concerning (a) the nature, function, organisation and finance of the European Defence Agency, (b) the agreement concerning nations within the European Union agreeing to form battle groups to provide rapidly deployable forces and (c) the planned conference in November where member states will be able to discuss their respective commitments.

Geoff Hoon: The following documents have been published by the Council of the European Union, the Ministry of Defence, or the House of Commons, concerning the European Defence Agency:
	Press release, 'EU HR Javier Solana announces appointments of European Defence Agency Directors', 13 October 2004.
	Council Joint Action 2004/551/CFSP of 12 July 2004 on the establishment of the European Defence Agency.
	Background document on the Agency, May 2004.
	Background document on the Agency, November 2003.
	Report mandating the Agency Establishment Team, GAERC November 2003.
	Council Decision of 17 November 2003 creating a team to prepare for the establishment of the agency in the field of defence capabilities development, research, acquisition and armaments.
	Council Conclusions, Thessaloniki, June 2003.
	Note
	All the above documents can be found on the official EU website: www.ue.eu.int.
	Ministry of Defence Quarter 4 Report to HM Treasury on Progress Against Spending Review 2002 Public Service Agreement Targets, June 2004 (available at www.mod.uk)
	22nd Report of the House of Commons Select Committee on European Scrutiny, June 2004.
	In addition, the following explanatory memoranda have been submitted to Parliament:
	On the decision to establish an Agency Establishment Team, November 2003.
	On the Council of the European Union Joint Action establishing the Agency, May 2004.
	On the financial and staff regulations of the Agency, July 2004.
	The following documents have been published by the Council of the European Union, the Ministry of Defence, or the House of Commons, concerning the EU member states' agreement to form Battlegroups and the Capabilities Commitment Conference planned for November 2004:
	Summary of the remarks by EU HR Javier Solana at the Informal Meeting of Ministers of Defence, April 2004 (available at www.ue.eu.int).
	Paper on Headline Goal 2010, agreed by the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 17 May 2004 (available at www.ue.eu.int).
	Conclusions on External Relations of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 17 May 2004 (available at www.ue.eu.int).
	25th Report of the House of Commons Select Committee on European Scrutiny, June 2004.
	Ministry of Defence Quarter 4 Report to HM Treasury on Progress Against Spending Review 2002 Public Service Agreement Targets, June 2004 (available at www.mod.uk).

EU Defence Procurement

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on European Union defence procurement policy.

Geoff Hoon: The Government are committed to playing a leading role in the development of European security and defence policy. We have been actively engaged in the formation of the European Defence Agency, which was formally established on 12 July 2004. The Agency will, inter alia, promote capability development and enhance European armaments co-operation, building on the work already undertaken within existing European fora. We expect the Agency also to work closely with the European Commission on any further work emanating from the Commission's Green Paper on Defence Procurement, published on 23 September 2004. This paper sets out to open the debate on creating a more transparent European defence equipment market, and on promoting further the global competitiveness of European defence industry. Policy for defence procurement rests nationally with the individual member states, with contribution from the Commission being in support of initiatives developed by the national Governments.

Flight ZD576

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2004, Official Report, column 440W, on Flight ZD576, whether the third parties consulted by the reviewing air marshals before coming to their conclusions on the crash of Flight ZD576 were limited to those providing legal advice; and if he will list the third parties consulted.

Adam Ingram: Third party consultation by the reviewing officers was limited to legal advice, provided by the Directorate of Legal Services (RAF).

Iraq

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average tour of duty is for a British soldier in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 25 October 2004
	The majority of United Kingdom troops deployed to Iraq deploy for six-month tours.

Iraq

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost has been to public funds of military deployment and action in connection with the intervention in Iraq since 1 March 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Audited figures for the costs of operations in Iraq is net additional published each year in the Ministry of Defence's Annual Report and Accounts. Net additional costs for 2002–03 were £848 million, and for 2003–04 £1,311 million, a total of £2,159 million.
	It is too early to provide a firm estimate of costs in 2004–05, but we will seek parliamentary approval for this expenditure through Supplementary Estimates in due course.

Iraq

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) US, (b) UK and (c) Iraqi troops are serving in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: The number of United States troops in Iraq is a matter for the US Government. There are some 8,100 United Kingdom troops deployed in Iraq, and a new Iraqi army is in training, which currently has some 9,000 troops.

Joint Strike Fighter

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the UK to be granted access to sensitive technology to permit maintenance and logistic support for the Joint Strike Fighter in the UK.

Adam Ingram: The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme is still at a relatively early stage in its development programme, and our current planning is that the aircraft will not enter service in the UK before 2012. Nevertheless, we are working closely with the US Joint Programme Office (JPO) to develop the support solutions required to maintain and support JSF through life on a global basis. Access to technology is a key element in this work and we expect to have sufficient access by December 2006 to give confidence in our ability to maintain and support the JSF in service prior to signing the Production, Sustainment and Follow on Development MOU.

Parliamentary Questions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will answer the question from the hon. Member dated 16 July, ref. 185178.

Ivor Caplin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2004, Official Report, column 714W.

Provigil

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2004, Official Report, column 65W, on Provigil, what the conclusions of the research were, with particular reference to using these pharmaceutical agents during times of hostilities; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The aim of the QinetiQ study was to investigate the effects of modafinil, the generic name for Provigil, on nocturnal sleep, and on subsequent performance in 12 healthy male volunteers. The effects studied included sustained attention, reaction time, digit symbol substitution, tracking, memory, sleepiness and fatigue.
	QinetiQ concluded that the effects on nocturnal sleep depended on the dose. In the study, 100 mg of modafinil had no affect on nocturnal sleep. At higher dose levels of 200 mg and 300 mg, total sleep was reduced. The alerting activity of modafinil was observed the following day, although at the highest dose, increased sleepiness was reported within 24 hours of ingestion.
	The Ministry of Defence does not use performance enhancing drugs, and the policy has not changed in light of this research.

RAF Fylingdales

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities are available at RAF Fylingdales; and what future use is envisaged for the base.

Geoff Hoon: RAF Fylingdales uses a Solid State Phased Array Radar to provide early warning of the launch of ballistic missiles and to carry out space surveillance. There is no planned change in the usage of the RAF Fylingdales site.

Satanism

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is with regard to the practice of Satanism in the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: A person's beliefs are essentially a private matter.

Tsar Appointments

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many tsars have been appointed with responsibilities which cover part of the work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: None.

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made on (a) considering future options for a nuclear deterrent capability and (b) reaching a decision on whether or not to withdraw the Trident fleet.

Geoff Hoon: I have nothing to add to the reply I gave my hon. Friend on 19 July 2004, Official Report, column 32W, when I said that work on a range of options for maintaining a nuclear deterrent capability is in hand in accordance with the policy set out in last December's Defence White Paper. As that White Paper made clear, decisions on whether to replace Trident are not needed this Parliament but are likely to be required in the next one.

US Interceptor Missiles

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the policy is of Her Majesty's Government on the stationing of US interceptor missiles in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: We have received no request from the United States regarding siting of interceptors in the United Kingdom. Should such a request be made, the Government's response will depend on the nature of the request and the circumstances in which it is made.

US Interceptor Missiles

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he or officials from his Department last met US Administration secretaries or officials to discuss the stationing of interceptor missiles in the UK; what the outcome was of those discussions; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: There have been no discussions between Ministers or officials of either government about the stationing of interceptor missiles in the UK. The Government have not yet decided whether the UK requires its own missile defence, and our discussions with the US on missile defence matters do not therefore involve specific architectures or basing assumptions.

US Interceptor Missiles

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions (a) he and (b) officials from his Department have had with their counterparts in (i) France, (ii) Germany, (iii) Italy and (iv) Spain regarding (A) the upgrade of RAF Fylingdales and (B) the stationing of US interceptor missiles in the UK; and what the outcome was of the discussions.

Geoff Hoon: Officials speak regularly with their counterparts in these countries and keep them informed on the United Kingdom defence matters, including those relating to missile defence, as appropriate. NATO allies have been kept informed in broad terms of the Government's decision last year to agree to the United States request to upgrade the early warning radar at RAF Fylingdales. There has been no contact with these countries regarding the stationing of interceptor missiles in the UK.

Warships

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 14 October 2004, Official Report, column 327W, on warships, what the timeline is for the refit of HMS Victorious; and when she is expected to return to service.

Adam Ingram: The refit (Long Overhaul Period (Refuel)) of HMS Victorious is currently planned to start in the first quarter of 2005. On completion of sea trials, she is expected to return to service with the Fleet mid 2008.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many Child Support Agency cases are waiting to be transferred onto the new IT system; how many attempted transfers have failed; and how many cases have been successfully transferred from the old scheme to the new;
	(2)  how many Child Support Agency cases where money has been paid to the parent with care have successfully been transferred from the old scheme of calculation to the new system.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Mr. Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 28 October 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases are waiting to be transferred onto the new IT system; how many attempted transfers have failed; and how many cases have been successfully transferred from the old scheme to the new.
	You also asked, how many Child Support cases where money has been paid to the parent with care have successfully been transferred from the old scheme of calculation to the new system.
	I do not have the information you require. I can however say that since March 2003 around 18,500 cases have successfully transferred from the old scheme to the new scheme.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases were waiting (a) to be calculated and (b) for money to be paid at 1 March 2003.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Mr. Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 28 October 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases (a) were waiting to be calculated and (b) for money to be paid at 1 March 2003.
	I do not have the information required. I can, however, say that there were around 142,000 applications for maintenance awaiting action as at 1 March 2003.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency applications waiting to be calculated were made (a) before 1 March 2003, (b) after 1 March 2003 but are assessed on the old scheme of maintenance calculation and (c) after 1 March 2003 and are assessed on the new scheme of maintenance calculation.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Mr. Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 28 October 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency applications waiting to be calculated were made (a) before 1 March 2003 (b) after 1 March 2003 but are assessed on the old scheme of maintenance calculation and (c) after 1 March 2003 and are on the new scheme of maintenance calculation.
	No new applications received after 3 March 2003 will be progressed under the 'old scheme'. Around 26,000 applications made before 3 March 2003 currently await a final decision being made—this may or may not result in a maintenance assessment.
	Around 240,000 applications recorded on the new IT system after 3 March 2003 are also awaiting a decision—again, this may or may not result in a maintenance calculation.

Pension Credit

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effects of pension credit on pensioner poverty;
	(2)  what the average value is of pension credit for (a) women and (b) all pensioners;
	(3)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) women and (b) all pensioners in receipt of pension credit.

Malcolm Wicks: Even before the introduction of pension credit, the Government's basic strategy of getting more money to pensioners, particularly the poorest, was making significant inroads into tackling pensioner poverty. The latest figures available show that by 2002–03 absolute pensioner poverty (the number living below the 1996–97 low-income threshold) had fallen by two-thirds, or 1.8 million.
	Since its introduction in October 2003, pension credit has had an impact on pensioner incomes by giving around 1.94 million households (2.36 million individuals) an average £16.33 a week more money (figures to the end of August). This represents 74 per cent. of all households receiving pension credit at the end of August 2004. The number and proportion of households gaining have risen in each of the months since October 2003 and this positive trend is set to continue with increased take-up levels.
	At the end of August there were 2.61 million households receiving pension credit in Great Britain. This figure comprises 3.17 million individuals, of whom 2.11 million were women. The average award was £41.71 a week for all pensioner households and £41.13 for households containing a woman.
	Notes:
	1. Numbers of pension credit recipients are rounded to the nearest 10 thousand.
	2. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to put time limits on payments of incapacity benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: We currently have no such plans. The Government's approach, as delivered in its flagship incapacity benefit reform programme, Pathways to Work, is to work actively and intensively with the large number of people on incapacity benefit who expect and want to work again and any longer term reform will continue to build on that approach.

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio was in each year since 1990 of the average incapacity benefit payment to the average jobseeker's allowance payment in cases in which the claimant claimed both benefits for a year or more.

Maria Eagle: The information is in the table.
	
		Ratio of the average incapacity benefit payment to the average jobseeker's allowance payment in cases which the claimant claimed both benefits for a year or more1990–2004
		
			  Average incapacity benefit payment (sickness benefit/invalidity benefit prior to April 1995) (£) Average jobseeker's allowance payment (income support for unemployed prior to October 1996 (£) Ratio of average incapacity benefit payment to average jobseeker's allowance payment 
		
		
			 1990 61.41 39.62 1.55:1 
			 1991 66.52 44.38 1.50:1 
			 1992 74.31 45.53 1.63:1 
			 1993 78.14 46.53 1.68:1 
			 1994 81.68 47.37 1.72:1 
			 1995 84.01 n/a n/a 
			 1996 83.05 n/a n/a 
			 1997 85.19 62.30 1.37.1 
			 1998 87.37 62.98 1.39:1 
			 1999 87.66 65.02 1.35:1 
			 2000 86.49 67.52 1.28:1 
			 2001 87.36 70.41 1.24:1 
			 2002 87.04 69.96 1.24:1 
			 2003 87.03 71.41 1.22:1 
			 2004 87.88 71.06 1.24:1 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Incapacity benefit (IB) replaced sickness benefit (SB) and invalidity benefit (IVB) from April 1995.
	2. Jobseeker's allowance (JSA) replaced income support (IS) for the unemployed from October 1996. IS and JSA figures are not available by duration for 1995 or 1996.
	3. Ratios are rounded to 2 decimal places.
	4. Average amounts have been given to the nearest penny.
	5. JSA figures are based on 5 per cent. samples and therefore subject to sampling variation.
	6. SB, IVB and IB figures are based on 1 per cent. samples up to April 1995 and 5 per cent. samples thereafter.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 1 per cent. and 5 per cent. samples.

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance in each year since 1997 had their claims terminated as a result of assessments made by doctors employed by or under contract to the Department, broken down by (a) age and (b) region.

Maria Eagle: The Information has been placed in the Library.

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance recipients claimed (a) statutory sick pay, (b) jobseeker's allowance income support and (c) other benefits before receiving incapacity benefit in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) age and (ii) region.

Maria Eagle: Information on the benefits previously claimed by incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance recipients is not available.

Pensioner Poverty (Scotland)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are estimated to be living below the poverty line in Scotland.

Malcolm Wicks: Poverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. The sixth annual "Opportunity For All" report (Cm 6329) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy.
	Statistics for Scotland on numbers of people living in low income are published by the Scottish Executive. These show that, in 2002–03 180,000 pensioners in Scotland were living in households with income below 60 per cent. of the Great Britain median on a before housing costs basis.
	Notes
	1. Data from the Family Resources Survey.
	2. Estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error, and to remaining variability in non-response which is not corrected by the grossing regime.
	3. Income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household). The median relates to the middle-ranked individual.

Job Centres

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many clients attended each Jobcentre due for closure in North Wales in each of the last 10 years; and what replacement service will be put in place after closure of these offices.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 28 October 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning how many clients attended each Jobcentre due for closure in North Wales in each of the last ten years; and what replacement service will be put in place after closure of these offices. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	I am unable to state the exact number of callers to each of the Jobcentres expected to close covering the last ten years. Information showing the weekly average number of clients registering for Jobseeker's Allowance in each of the last ten years ending in August is shown in the table below.
	
		Average number of clients registering for jobseeker's allowance in each of the last 10 years ending in August
		
			  1994–95(15) 1995–96 1996–97(15) 1997–98(15) 1998–99(15) 
		
		
			 Cefn Mawr — — — — — 
			 Conwy — — — — — 
			 Denbigh — — — 323 285 
			 Holywell 666 621 574 374 325 
			 Llangollen — — — — — 
			 Llanrwst — — — — — 
			 Prestatyn — — — 299 323 
			 Blaenau Ffestiniog 346 334 334 274 262 
			 Barmouth 380 378 389 286 247 
			 Beaumaris — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  1999–2000(15) 2000–01(15) 2001–02(15) 2002–03(15) 2003–04(15) 
		
		
			 Cefn Mawr — — — 140 120 
			 Conwy — — — 120 112 
			 Denbigh 271 239 191 192 178 
			 Holywell 284 250 199 186 185 
			 Llangollen — — — — 146 
			 Llanrwst — — — 98 70 
			 Prestatyn 358 258 242 193 179 
			 Blaenau Ffestiniog 236 241 189 156 146 
			 Barmouth 199 169 180 137 148 
			 Beaumaris — — — — 30 
		
	
	(15) 1 September to 31 August.
	Separate records are not available for some of the very small sites as their figures are included in their parent office. Each of these customers is expected to attend the Jobcentre every fortnight for an interview about their job search activity and they represent most of the traffic into the offices.
	Work is currently in progress to develop options for Flexible Service Delivery in the locations where offices will close. This work will be undertaken in partnership with MPs, Assembly Members and other relevant stakeholders to tailor these options to meet the needs of the local community.
	I hope this is helpful.

Job Losses (Incapacity)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of individuals who lost jobs in 2003–04 as the result of suffering pain.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is not available. Data on individuals who lost their jobs as a result of suffering pain is not collected.

State Retirement Pension

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 19 October 2004, Official Report, column 638W, on pensions, for what reasons the introduction of equal treatment for men whose wives die before reaching state pension age has been delayed until 2010; and what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing this change before 2010.

Malcolm Wicks: The introduction of equal treatment for widowers from 2010 forms part of the package to equalise state pension age including husbands being entitled to a basic state pension on their wife's national insurance contributions thereby ensuring that all of the provisions could be funded.
	The gross costs of introducing the widowers' change is in the table.
	
		Extra state pension expenditure
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2005–06 7 
			 2006–07 7 
			 2007–08 8 
			 2008–09 8 
			 2009–10 8 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Costs are in 2004–05 prices to the nearest £1 million and show the combined increase in expenditure on basic state pension and additional state pension.
	2. It is assumed the policy would be introduced from 2005 onwards.
	3. We are unable to estimate the costs net of income related benefits and tax reliably as the numbers involved are small and there are limitations in our ability to model the impact of the change.

Work Preparation Programmes

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have entered (a) an Access to Work programme, (b) a Work Preparation programme and (c) Workstep in each year since 2001 have re-entered those programmes or other employment and training programmes later, broken down by (i) age and (ii) region.

Maria Eagle: Information is not collected on the numbers of people who receive support through these programmes more than once, or who subsequently enter other employment and training programmes.

CABINET OFFICE

Disabled People

Paul Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will publish research carried out by the Downing Street Strategy Unit into life chances for disabled people; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Milburn: In June 2004, the Strategy Unit published an interim analytical report from its project, "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People". A final report from the project will also be published in due course.

Government Websites

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of Government websites meet the Disability Discrimination Act 1995's guidelines on web accessibility; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes no reference to web accessibility. However, the Disability Rights Commission's supporting "Code of Practice on Rights of Access—Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises" (published in 2002), makes it clear that any website owner as a service provider must take all reasonable measures to have their service usable by disabled people. This Code of Practice does not provide or recommend any particular web accessibility guidelines.
	In 2001 the Government adopted the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines". Since the publication of the "Guidelines for UK Government Websites" in 2002, the Cabinet Office has promoted web accessibility extensively to both the public sector web management community and their contractors.
	The Cabinet Office does not hold statistics on the percentage of Government websites that meet the accessibility guidelines. Earlier this year the Disability Rights Commission conducted a formal investigation. Its report showed that levels of accessibility awareness in the Government web community were high: around 49 per cent. of websites in the Government sector fully achieved the basic level of accessibility, compared to 19 per cent. of all websites in all sectors surveyed.
	It is now a condition of owning a .gov.uk domain name that the "Guidelines for UK Government Websites", regarding accessibility, apply.

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many unpaid special advisers the Office has; what their names are; and which Government (a) bodies, (b) committees and (c) strategy groups each unpaid adviser (i) belongs to, (ii) advises and (iii) works alongside.

Ruth Kelly: For information relating to numbers and names of unpaid advisers I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2004, Official Report, columns 466–70W.
	Special advisers, whether paid or unpaid, are employed under the terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Unpaid advisers are appointed in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 51 of the Ministerial Code.

TREASURY

Correspondence

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Chairman of the Inland Revenue will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Workington dated 18 August.

Dawn Primarolo: The Chairman of the Inland Revenue has replied on 27 October to the letter from the hon. Member.

Double Taxation Convention

Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a former UK civil servant in receipt of a civil service pension permanently resident in the US but not a US citizen can opt to pay only US tax under the double taxation convention.

Dawn Primarolo: Under Article 19 of the 2001 UK/US Double Taxation Convention, the UK has the right to tax a UK civil service pension where the recipient is a resident, but not a national, of the US. There is no provision in the Convention which allows the recipient to opt to pay only US tax.

Employment (North Southwark and Bermondsey)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were in full-time employment in North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Simon Hughes, dated 28 October 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment. I am replying in his absence. (194311)
	The attached table gives estimates of the number of people in full-time employment and resident in the North Southwark and Bermondsey Parliamentary Constituency for the twelve months ending February each year from 1997 to 2003, the latest date for which information is available.
	These estimates from the Labour Force Survey are, as with any sample survey, subject to sampling variability.
	
		People(16) in full-time employment(17) resident in the North Southwark and Bermondsey parliamentary constituency—12 months ending in February each year from 1997 to 2003
		
			  Thousand 
		
		
			 1997 30 
			 1998 34 
			 1999 36 
			 2000 45 
			 2001 42 
			 2002 43 
			 2003 39 
		
	
	(16) People refer to those aged 16 and over.
	2 The definition of full-time employment is based on respondents' self-classification.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey

Equity Release Schemes

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on equity release schemes and inheritance tax.

Dawn Primarolo: There have been no recent changes to the inheritance tax rules which have any impact on equity release schemes.

Pensioners (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioners live in (a) the North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency, (b) the Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (c) the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Simon Hughes, dated 28 October 2004
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many pensioners live in (a) The North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency, (b) the Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (c) the Dulwich and West Norwood Constituency (194310)
	Mid-year population estimates on pensioners are not available for Parliamentary Constituencies. I have therefore provided figures taken from the 2001 Census.
	The table below shows the number of people living in each of the constituencies on Census day (29 April 2001). The figures have been extracted from Table CAS002 on the CD supplement to the "Census 2001 Census Area Statistics for Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales", which is available on request from Census Customer Services (census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk).
	
		
			  England 
			 Area All people People of pensionable age1 
		
		
			 North Southwark and Bermondsey 111,860 13,164 
			 Camberwell and Peckham 79,096 9,255 
			 Dulwich and West Norwood 99,619 12,681 
		
	
	(17) Pensionable age is 65 and over for males and 60 and over for females.
	Source:
	2001 Census Report for Parliamentary Constituencies.

Private Finance Initiatives

George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance is provided to procuring authorities about the treatment of PFI arrangements in the accounts of public bodies.

Paul Boateng: In determining the accounting treatment of PFI arrangements, public bodies are required to follow United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, Including Financial Reporting Standards issued by the independent Accounting Standards Board (ASB).
	The specific guidance issued by the ASB on accounting for PFI is 'Application Note F to FRS 5—Private Finance Initiative and Similar Contracts', as supplemented by the HM Treasury issued 'Technical Note No 1 (Revised)—How to Account for PFI transactions'.

Tax Credits

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a steeper taper for those eligible for tax credits to prevent disincentive for those who wish to work for more than 16 hours a week.

Dawn Primarolo: The vast majority, over 90 per cent., of main earners in couples benefiting from tax credits work over 35 hours per week. The tax credits system contains several elements which help those who wish to increase their working hours. There is a 30-hour element in the working tax credit (WTC) worth £640 per year. The child care element of WTC is payable to lone parents and to couples where both partners work at least 16 hours per week and provides up to 70 per cent. of costs up to certain limits. Finally, the tax credits system disregards income rises from the previous tax year of up to £2,500, so tax credit recipients whose family income increases by up to this amount will not see any reduction in their current year's award.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people claimed the 50-plus return to work element of the working tax credit in 2003–04.

Dawn Primarolo: The final number of beneficiaries in 2003–04 will be shown in the annual statistical publication for that year, which is due to be published in May 2005.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many opium seizures have been made (a) in Afghanistan and (b) on Afghan borders since UK forces took control of the international community's efforts to stop the flow of drugs from Afghanistan.

Bill Rammell: The UK took on lead nation status for coordinating international counter narcotics activity in Afghanistan in April 2002. We remain committed to supporting the Afghan Government in implementation of their Afghan National Drug Control Strategy, and have allocated more than £70 million over three years for counter narcotics activity plus significant development funding and support for alternative livelihoods. The British Embassy Drugs Team, with assistance from other Government Departments, rather than UK forces, is the main delivery agent of this support and coordination.
	Since it became operational in January 2003, the Afghan Special Narcotics Force, supported by UK advice and funding, has seized over 50 tonnes of opiates. In addition, the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan, which was created in January 2003 with UK support, report that to date they have seized 2.1 tons heroin and 13.6 tons opium, over 1.5 tons of which were achieved specifically in UK supported operations together with 4.6 tons of precursor chemicals. The Afghan general and border police also seize opiates in the course of their work, but we do not have reliable figures.
	In addition, the UK works closely with Afghanistan's neighbours, including providing assistance, to help their efforts to counter the flow of opiates from Afghanistan. These countries have reported that in excess of 100 tonnes of opiates were seized in 2003.

Belarus

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe regarding the recent referendum vote in Belarus; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: On 18 October, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to Belarus issued its preliminary findings and conclusions on the 17 October election and referendum. Initial discussions took place in the OSCE's Permanent Council on 21 October. There will be further discussions when the IEOM releases its final report. We will press for clear EU action within the framework of the OSCE. We will also press Belarus to implement the recommendations in the final report.

British Indian Ocean Territories

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he received from British Indian Ocean Territory citizens concerning their economic well being in (a) Mauritius, (b) the Seychelles and (c) the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: I have from time to time received representations from the leader of the Chagossian community in Mauritius concerning the economic well being of that community, but I have received no comparable representations from Chagossians in Seychelles. In addition, a representative of the Chagossians who recently arrived in the UK contacted my officials who advised that any matter relating to the Chagossians' well being in this country should be raised with the local social services.

British Indian Ocean Territories

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much compensation has been paid by the UK Government to former residents of the Chagos Islands; and how many recipients there have been.

Bill Rammell: £650,000 was paid to the Mauritius Government in the early 1970s to meet the cost of resettling the islanders. Under a 1982 Treaty between HMG and the Mauritius Government, negotiated and concluded with the agreement of representatives of the islanders, a further £4 million was paid by HMG into a Trust Fund for the benefit of the Chagossians. In addition, the Mauritius Government vested land to the value of a further £1 million in the Trust Fund.
	By the end of 1986, the trustees of the Fund, consisting of representatives of the Mauritius Government and the Chagossians themselves, had disbursed payments to around 1350 former islanders. This constituted the total population of those recognised by the trustees as members of the Chagossian community.
	The total compensation already paid would amount to over £14 million at today's prices.

Falkland Islands

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent discussions with the Argentinean Government in relation to the future of the Falkland Islands.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Argentine Foreign Minister Bielsa during the United Nations General Assembly on 22 September. They discussed a variety of issues including those relating to the Falkland Islands. The Foreign Secretary made clear that the UK has no doubts about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and the surrounding maritime area, and that we will not negotiate on sovereignty unless and until the Islanders wish that.

Falkland Islands

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions have taken place with the Governments of (a) Argentina, (b) Chile, (c) Brazil and (d) Uruguay regarding port blockades on vessels travelling to and from the Falkland Islands.

Bill Rammell: There are no port blockades on vessels travelling to and from the Falkland Islands and Latin America. Merchant ships (including cruise ships and fishing vessels) travel freely between ports in the region. Naval vessels are subject to the usual discussions on diplomatic channels.
	Discussions with the Governments of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay take place as necessary.

Georgia/Abkhazia

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Georgia-Abkhaz peace process.

Bill Rammell: Talks between the parties, under the auspices of the resident Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations continue, but 2004 has been a period of reduced diplomatic activity overall. The new Georgian Government concentrated their attention first on Ajara and then on South Ossetia; and political energies in Abkhazia have focused on the leadership elections which took place there on 3 October.
	We have continued to keep in touch with the parties, with the United Nations, and with our French, German, Russian and United States colleagues on the group of Friends of the Secretary-General. We look forward to the early reactivation of work on confidence-building, with particular reference to the conditions needed to ensure the safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons, in the first place to the Gali district of Abkhazia.

Iraq

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral statement of the Secretary of State for Defence of 18 October 2004, Official Report, column 642, on UK forces (Iraq), what assessment he has made of the effect of alleged corruption at the UN during the Oil for Food Programme on the current insurgency in Iraq.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 25 October 2004
	The Government conducts regular assessments of the insurgency in Iraq, including sources of funding. But assessments of funding have been limited owing to the invisible nature of most transactions, and it has not been possible to make a definitive judgement. Although it is difficult to be precise, we believe that elements of the insurgency have access to funds of the former regime, some of which, it is reasonable to assume, may have been derived through corruption under the Oil for Food Programme. The Government continues to work hard through the UN Security Council to ensure that assets belonging to the former government of Iraq are frozen and transferred to the Development Fund for Iraq in compliance with resolution 1483 (22 May 2003).

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his reply of 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1836W, on Iraq, when the full assessment of Iraq's declaration of the status of its programmes of weapons of mass destruction was completed.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 26 October 2004
	A full assessment of the text of the Iraqi declaration was completed on 21 December 2002. The supporting documentation was reviewed and summarised to ensure it did not contain any information which contradicted the main body of the declaration. This was concluded in early March 2003.

Iraq Survey Group Report

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the conclusions of the Iraq Survey Group with which he does not agree; and if he will give the reason for disagreement in each case.

Denis MacShane: There are three principal areas of disagreement, all concerning Iraq's nuclear programme:
	The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) report concludes that there is no evidence to suggest that Iraq sought to procure uranium from Africa in the 1990s. The Government continues to believe that credible evidence exists to support the assertion made in the September 2002 dossier. Lord Butler of Brockwell's review upheld that belief. The UK was not in a position to share all the intelligence on this issue with the ISG.
	The ISG also expressed doubt that the aluminium tubes referred to in the September dossier were evidence of a resumption of Iraq's nuclear programmes. Again, Lord Butler's review assessed this, and concluded that the Joint Intelligence Committee were right to include reference to the tubes in the dossier and that it properly reflected doubts about the use of the tubes in the caution of its assessments. The Government fully accepts the findings of Lord Butler's review.
	The ISG also report that they found no evidence to support the claim in the dossier that Iraq "is almost certainly seeking an indigenous ability to enrich uranium" based on gas centrifuge technology. They do, however, admit that elements of useful and relevant technologies were being developed.

Iraq Survey Group Report

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy, following the publication of the Iraq Survey Group report, to correct all instances in the Official Report in which he or other Ministers in his Department stated that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction; and if he will establish an investigation into the reasons he and other departmental ministers were provided with inaccurate briefings that underpinned these answers.

Denis MacShane: No. The Official Report is produced in order to provide an accurate account of current business in the House. All instances on which Ministers stated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction accurately reflected the position of the Government based upon information available at the time. The information that underpinned these statements was the subject of the review headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell.

Ministerial Meetings

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) matters were discussed and (b) agreements were made during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 19 October.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary-General met for an hour. They discussed Iraq, concentrating on the forthcoming elections and the security situation, Iran's nuclear programme, the situation in Darfur, prospects for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, including Security Council reform.

North Korea

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the size of the population of prison camps in North Korea.

Bill Rammell: The US Annual Human Rights Report on North Korea, dated February 2004, estimated the prison population of North Korea to be around two hundred thousand. We have no access to any more accurate and reliable figures. We are awaiting a written response from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea authorities on this and other concerns which I raised during my visit to Pyongyang in September.

Oil Sanctions (Sudan)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has held since March with the Chinese delegation to the UN Security Council regarding Chinese support for a UNSC resolution on oil sanctions against Sudan.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing by telephone on 20 September.
	The UK delegation to the UN in New York has frequently discussed all aspects of the UN Security Council resolutions on Darfur with the Chinese delegation in meetings of the Security Council. This included discussion of what action the UN Security Council could take if the Government of Sudan failed to comply with resolutions 1556 and 1564, such as action to affect Sudan's petroleum sector. Officials have also discussed the issue with the Chinese in London and Beijing.

Egypt

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Egypt about the continued incarceration of (a) William Shaiboub Arsal and (b) Adly Shakir.

Bill Rammell: William Shaiboub Arsal was convicted on 5 June 2000 for a double murder and was sentenced to 15 years. He appealed to the Court of Cassation in June 2000. Officials most recently discussed this case with the Egyptian authorities in August 2004 and received assurances that the case is being handled with due process and that an appeal hearing is due to take place later this year.
	Officials at our embassy in Cairo followed closely the case of Adly Shakir at the time of his trial and appeal. His sentence was reduced at appeal in 1999 to 25 years. There was no evidence of any departure from the correct procedure in Egyptian handling of the case.
	We will continue to look into all credible allegations of human rights abuse, and to raise with the Egyptian authorities any cases where there is evidence to support the allegations.

Private Finance Initiatives

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the private finance initiative arrangements in which the Department is engaged; what the total cost of each arrangement is (a) over its lifetime and (b) in each year of its operation; and how the arrangement appears in the Department's public accounts.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has two private finance initiative arrangements in place:
	Global Crossing
	Provision of a worldwide telecommunications network for a term of 10 years from 10 May 2000. The total estimated value of the contract is £236 million. The present unitary payment charged to the operating cost statement is £25 million per annum. This is an off-balance sheet charge and can be viewed in the FCO 2002–03 Resource Accounts on the FCO website: www.fco.gov.uk
	Arteos
	In respect of the building, operation and maintenance of the British Embassy in Berlin for a term of 30 years from 23 June 1998 with an option to extend for a further 30 years. The total estimated value of the contract over its lifetime is £131.5 million. The current unitary payment is £4.5 million per annum. This is mainly an on-balance sheet charge and can be viewed in the FCO 2002–03 Resource Accounts on the FCO website: www.fco.gov.uk

Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures his Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake to comply with the Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order 2003.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) purchases 100 per cent. of the electricity used in its King Charles Street Main Building from renewable energy sources. In addition we take heat, when available, from the Whitehall District Heating Scheme (WDHS). We are also discussing with "the Office of Government Commerce Buying Solutions", the possible purchase of electricity generated by WDHS.
	The FCO is undertaking a feasibility study of the re-development of its Hanslope Park site in Buckinghamshire to determine the extent to which CHP Provisions can be implemented.
	The FCO plans to purchase good quality CHP sourced electricity as it becomes available, provided the Department considers the purchase to be a good value for money option.

Turkmenistan

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to seek to prevent human rights and democracy abuses in Turkmenistan.

Bill Rammell: We remain seriously concerned about human rights in Turkmenistan, including the plight of those convicted following the reported coup attempt in November 2002; the harassment of Turkmen opposition figures in exile; the tight controls over the individual freedoms of all Turkmen citizens; the apparent degradation of the education system; the comprehensive restrictions on freedom of expression; and increased evidence of state-sponsored ethnic discrimination. In their submission to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in spring 2004, Human Rights Watch described Turkmenistan as one of the most repressive countries in the world.
	Our ambassador most recently lobbied Foreign Minister Meredov on 30 September on a range of human rights concerns, including access to prisoners by the International Committee for the Red Cross and the use of child labour. We have also repeatedly raised reports of discrimination against holders of foreign qualifications, the issue of restriction of religious freedom as well as individual cases, including Rahim Esenov, a 78-year-old author arrested in February 2004 for allegedly criticising the regime. Mr. Esenov was subsequently released in March.
	The United Kingdom actively supported the tabling and adoption of country resolutions at the 59th and 60th Sessions of the UN Committee on Human Rights in 2003 and spring 2004. The UK also supported a further country resolution at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in 2003. These have noted the limited positive steps by the Turkmen Government and have raised serious concerns about the human rights situation and the absence of democracy in Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he will take to urge the Turkmen authorities to co-operate with international human rights organisations.

Bill Rammell: The United Kingdom consistently encourages the Turkmen Government to co-operate with international human rights organisations. We supported the tabling of resolutions at the 59th and 60th sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2003 and Spring 2004 and also at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in 2003. We are doing so again at this year's UN General Assembly.
	Reinforced by broader international pressure, these Resolutions, have led to some welcome, if limited, signs of increased Turkmen engagement with the international community and human rights organisations. For example, a dialogue is now taking place between the Turkmen authorities and the International Committee for the Red Cross about access to prisons. It is important that this dialogue and other positive indications lead to positive outcomes. Our ambassador lobbied the Turkmen Foreign Minister on this point on 30 September 2004.
	Following the decision of the Turkmen Government to refuse the extension of ambassador Badescu's mandate as Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabad in July 2004, it was our ambassador as local EU Presidency who delivered the critical EU statement on this matter. On 30 September he reminded the Foreign Minister of the need for positive engagement with the new Head of the OSCE Mission.
	With our EU partners and other interested parties, we will continue to encourage Turkmen engagement with international human rights organisations as a necessary step on the road to improving democracy and human rights in Turkmenistan.

Western Sahara

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the Government of Morocco, (b) the Polisario Front and (c) UN officials on the future constitutional arrangements for the Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: UK officials have held recent discussions with all the parties to the Western Sahara dispute and UN Officials. Officials have underlined the importance the UK attaches to the UN process delivering a fair and lasting solution to this dispute that provides the people of the Western Sahara with an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Chechen Separatist Organisations

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on Chechen separatist organisations operating within the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: The Police and the Security Service continue to monitor closely the activities of those groups which seek to undermine the interests of the UK, whatever their background. If they find evidence of any terrorist activity they will act immediately.

D Notices

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 'D' notices prohibiting the publication of sensitive news stories about the situation in Iraq have been issued in each month since March 2003.

Adam Ingram: I have been asked to reply.
	'D notices' are not issued to cover specific stories or events, nor can they actually prohibit publication of sensitive news stories. The system is advisory, and there are five standing Defence Advisory Notices. These are the basis on which the Secretary of the independent Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee gives advice day-to-day, to the media and to officials, on the publication of information about national security (see www.dnotice.org.uk for full details). The decision whether or not to publish remains with the editor.
	In the case of events in Iraq since March 2003 (and in the build-up to the operation), the Secretary has never had to advise that a complete story should not be published. He has however on occasion advised that some detail in an intended story should be omitted, for reasons of personal and operational security. The media have invariably agreed to observe this advice, and on occasion have voluntarily also withdrawn the whole story, as they have sometimes also done when the Secretary has informed them that some crucial details in their outline are known to him to be untrue.
	The number of occasions on which advice of this nature has been sought by journalists, invariably by telephone, about endangering detail in an otherwise publishable story, has varied greatly from month to month, according to the pattern of operations. Over the whole period, it has averaged about twice a week.

Departmental Expenses

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what departmental expenditure was on (a) mobile telephones, (b) hospitality and (c) taxis in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest accounting period for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 16 July 2004
	The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			£ 
			  1996–97 2003–04 
		
		
			 Mobile telephones 438,783.30 1,282,909.33 
			 Taxis (18)— 435,416.24 
			 Hospitality (19)— 89,072 
		
	
	(18) Not available. The method for capturing travel and subsistence expenses in 1996–97 did not allow for a reliable separation of taxi costs.
	(19) Hospitality figures relate to the cost of providing refreshment for non-civil servants and for limited hospitality provided by civil servants for business purposes. Details of such expenditure have been held only since 1997–98, for which the figure is £37,747.
	Due to the nature of the Home Office's work, a large number of employees are involved in dispersed operations, which necessitate the use of mobile phones on a regular basis. Some organisations, like the National Probation Service, have also become part of the Home Office since 1997, and their costs are now included. The Department has contracts with major mobile phone companies to get the best deal for the tax payer.

Temporary Mortuaries

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department makes financial provision for the implications of setting up a temporary mortuary.

Paul Goggins: Responsibility for the provision of public mortuaries is covered by section 198 of the Public Health Act 1936, which states that local authorities may, or shall if directed to do so by the Minister, provide a public mortuary. This does not explicitly cover temporary mortuaries. The Civil Defence (General Lead Local Authority Functions) Regulations 199 set out a responsibility on local authorities for dealing with fatalities in emergencies. Responsibility for funding is covered by section 27 of the Coroners Act 1988, which sets out that county councils and lead boroughs in metropolitan areas are responsible for providing support to coroners.

PRIME MINISTER

Casinos

James Gray: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has visited (a) Las Vegas and (b) Atlantic City in an official capacity.

Tony Blair: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Copies of these lists are available in the Library of the House.

Casinos

James Gray: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many recent meetings he has had with representatives of (a) Sun International, (b) MGM Mirage, (c) Kerzner International, (d) Caesar's Entertainment and (e) the British Casino Association; when those meetings took place; and if he will list the representatives whom he met from each organisation;
	(2)  how many recent meetings his (a) officials and (b) special advisers had with representatives of (a) Sun International, (b) MGM Mirage, (c) Kerzner International, (d) Caesar's Entertainment and (e) the British Casino Association.

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what meetings (a) he and (b) his advisers and officials have held with representatives of (i) Sun City International, (ii) MGM Mirage, (iii) Mandalay Resort Group, (iv) Kerzner International, (v) Las Vegas Sands, Inc.,(vi) Harrah's Entertainment, (vii) Caesar's Entertainment and (viii) other foreign casino firms; what the (A) dates and (B) venues of the meetings were; and which individuals were present;
	(2)  on what dates (a) he and (b) officials in his Office have held meetings with representatives of the UK gambling industry to discuss proposed changes to legislation on gambling.

Frank Field: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list each meeting at which (a) he, (b) Ministers, (c) officials and (d) his representatives discussed with outside parties proposed changes to the gambling laws; when each meeting took place; and if he will list the attendees at each meeting.

Tony Blair: My officials and I have meetings and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals. As with previous Administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings, under Exemptions 2 and 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Ministerial Residences

George Osborne: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost to public funds was in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02, (c) 2002–03 and (d) 2003–04 of the (i) rent, (ii) capital charges and (iii) maintenance of official ministerial residences; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Norman Baker) on 11 October 2004, Official Report, columns 53–54W.

Oil for Food Programme

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister when he last discussed the alleged corruption at the UN during the Oil for Food Programme in Iraq in person with the Secretary General of the UN.

Tony Blair: I have had no such discussions with the United Nations Secretary General.
	The allegations are subject to an independent inquiry appointed by the Secretary-General in April. The Government continues to co-operate fully with the inquiry, with which officials have had regular contact.

UN Secretary-General

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister what criteria he used to select topics for discussion with the Secretary-General of the UN during his recent visit to London.

Tony Blair: The office of the Secretary-General and the UK Government proposed topics for discussion.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Judges

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what measures the Department is taking to help (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities become judges.

Christopher Leslie: Judicial appointments are made solely on merit. To encourage lawyers from all backgrounds to apply for judicial appointment, we run workshops around the country, sometimes in conjunction with the Bar Council and the Law Society, to give an overview of the appointments process. Officials from my Department also attend conferences and events, such as the Minority Lawyers Conference and run a very successful work-shadowing scheme, whereby individuals can shadow a circuit or district judge for up to five days. This can help them to decide whether to pursue a judicial career.
	In 2001, salaried part-time working for new district judge and tribunal appointments was introduced and from April 2005, this will be extended to all new and existing salaried appointments below the High Court unless the nature of the office or business needs dictate otherwise.
	The establishment of the new Judicial Appointments Commission will further inspire a more diverse range of applicants through a more transparent, accountable and accessible appointments process. In addition, on 13 October 2004, we published a consultation paper entitled "Increasing Diversity in the Judiciary". The consultation paper highlights a range of issues that could act as barriers to judicial diversity, particularly for women, members of minority ethnic groups and disabled lawyers. Once we have identified which barriers exist, action will be taken to try to remove or reduce them.

Lay Magistrates

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what consultations he has had with the lay magistracy in each of the past 12 months.

Christopher Leslie: I have had at least 13 meetings with different groups of magistrates over the past 12 months on a range of matters. As with previous Administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings under Exemption 2 of the Code of practice on Access to Government Information (internal advice and discussion) on the grounds that it would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Magistrates Court Trial Centres

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates court trial centres there were in England and Wales (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available.

Christopher Leslie: From the information available to my Department, in April 1997 there were 492 operational magistrates courthouses in England and Wales conducting trials and the latest data collected in September 2004 shows there are 369.

Personal Injury

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to raise the small claims limit in personal injury cases; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Better Regulation Task Force in its report, "Better Routes to Redress" recommended that research should be carried out into the potential impact of raising the small claims limit for personal injury cases from the current limit of £1,000. Careful consideration is being given to this and other recommendations in the BRTF report and the Government will respond shortly.

Personal Injury

David Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how the courts will implement the power to review awards of compensation for personal injury.

David Lammy: Section 100 of the Courts Act 2003 gives the Lord Chancellor the power by Order to specify the circumstances in which orders and agreements for future pecuniary loss for personal injury, made in the form of periodical payments, can be varied. The terms on which variation will be possible are contained in the Damages (Variation of Periodical Payments) Order 2004,which has been approved by Parliament under the affirmative resolution procedure.